Meghan Markle appeared on a celebrity-packed panel at SXSW to mark International Women’s Day, where she once again opened up about how she wrote to Procter & Gamble when she was 11 years old to ask the brand to change its sexist soap commercial.
The Duchess of Sussex, now 42, joined actress Brooke Shields and news presenter Katie Couric on stage at the prestigious festival, where she led a panel discussion on “breaking barriers” and “representation of women”.
She launched into a passionate discussion about the importance of greater gender equality before sharing the story of how she had pressured the manufacturing company to change a TV ad for dishwashing liquid in 1993.
Meghan relived the exchange while proclaiming to the audience: “Your voice is not small, it just needs to be heard.”
Meghan Markle appeared on a celebrity-packed panel at SXSW to mark International Women’s Day, where she once again opened up about how she wrote to Procter & Gamble when she was 11 years old to ask the brand to change its sexist soap commercial.
Meghan opened the discussion with an impassioned speech promoting the many women-focused initiatives she and Prince Harry (pictured in the crowd) have been working on through their nonprofit, the Archewell Foundation.
Meghan opened the discussion with an impassioned speech promoting the many women-focused initiatives she and Prince Harry had been working on through their nonprofit, the Archewell Foundation.
She was then asked to recount details once again about how she had written to Procter & Gamble as part of a campaign to get it to reconsider its sexist slogans..
“I was about 11 years old and had seen a commercial on TV for a dishwashing liquid that said ‘women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans,'” the mother of two began.
‘The boys in my class at the time said “yes, that’s where women belong, in the kitchen”, and at 11 I found that infuriating.
“I wrote a lot of letters and put pen to paper and they ended up changing the commercial to ‘people from all over America.’
Meghan continued: “It’s funny looking back on it now because that was before social media had a much bigger reach.” I was just an 11 year old kid with a pencil and paper.
“But it just goes to show that if you know something is wrong and you’re using your voice to advocate for what’s right, that can really land and resonate and create a big change for a lot of people.”
‘Your voice is not small, it just needs to be heard.’
Meghan appeared on Nick News after pressuring the manufacturing company to change a television ad for dishwashing liquid in 1993.
Meghan then lowered the microphone and smiled as she was greeted with loud applause from the audience.
In 1993, Markle appeared on Nick News, an educational children’s program that aired on the popular cable network Nickelodeon.
In a video previously discovered by Inside Edition, Markle is seen on the show as she and her classmates watched a television commercial for Ivory dishwasher soap.
Speaking directly to the camera crews, the 11-year-old said: “I don’t think it’s right for kids to grow up thinking that only mom does everything.”
“Always mom does this and mom does that.”
She concluded at that moment: ‘Iif you see ssomething youWhat do you not like or offend you?On television or anywhere else, type letters and send them to the right ppeople.
‘You can really make adsdifference not only for you but for meMany other people.
2015: Markle recalled the incident during a speech at the United Nations, again to mark International Women’s Day.
2019: Meghan spoke about the exchange again during a panel discussion hosted by King’s College London for the annual celebration of women.
But today at SXSW wasn’t the first time he’d retold the story.
In 2015, Markle recalled the incident during a speech at the United Nations, once again marking International Women’s Day.
“I remember feeling shocked and angry and also very hurt,” Markle said in the speech.
“It just wasn’t right and something needed to be done.”
She said at the time that her father, Thomas Markle, had inspired her to achieve change.
“He encouraged me to write letters, and I did, to the most powerful people I could think of,” Meghan shared.
And, once again, in 2019, he spoke about the exchange during a round table, together with the musician Annie Lennox and the former Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard, hHosted by King’s College London for the annual celebration of women.
Meghan, who was pregnant with her son Archie at the time, said: “To tell you the truth, at 11 I don’t think I even knew what sexism meant.” I just knew something hit me internally that told me it was wrong, and I knew it was wrong.
“And using that as my moral compass and moving forward from the age of 11, at that age I was able to change this commercial.”
After his last appearance, viewers flocked to social media users to criticize the repetition of the already well-worn story.
And he added: “It really set the path for me to say that if there was something bad, if there is a lack of justice and there is inequality, then someone has to do something.” And why not me?
After his last appearance, viewers flocked to social media users to criticize the repetition of the already well-worn story.
On
Another added: ‘It’s not this old story again. Does she have anything else????’
And a third said: “Not that bloody dish soap story from 30 years ago again.”
Someone else complained: ‘We’ve only heard this story about 17 times. Enough is enough.’