Editing Hasbro (section)

== Criticism and controversy ==
In 2007, a workers' rights group investigated several of Hasbro's Chinese suppliers and found that, in one instance, a toy factory in China's [[Guangxi Province]] had hired 1000 [[junior high school]] students. The same group discovered other widespread [[Labour law|labor violations]], including unsafe working conditions, mandatory overtime, [[verbal abuse]] and [[sexual harassment]] of employees. Hasbro issued a statement, saying that it would "act swiftly and decisively in making any necessary changes" and had "increased the intensity of [its] ongoing safety review efforts." Critics pointed out that Hasbro had no official regulatory control of these factories. Hasbro responded by hiring independent auditors. These auditors made unannounced visits to the [[East Asian]] subcontractors. Reports then emerged that the factory managers have been coached in how to deceive the auditors.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/22/business/worldbusiness/22factory.html?ref=business "U.S. Group Accuses Chinese Toy Factories of Labor Abuses"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170130222327/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/22/business/worldbusiness/22factory.html?ref=business |date=January 30, 2017 }} from ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref>

Hasbro has also been criticized for focusing some of its products on specific demographic groups. For example, a letter spread widely on [[social media]] in November 2012 written by a six-year-old Irish girl complaining about the lack of female characters in the guessing game ''[[Guess Who?]]''<ref name="independent.co.uk">[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/guess-whos-sexist-classic-board-games-gender-bias-leaves-sixyearold-fuming-8324067.html "Guess Who's sexist? Classic board game's gender bias leaves six-year-old fuming] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925162900/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/guess-whos-sexist-classic-board-games-gender-bias-leaves-sixyearold-fuming-8324067.html |date=September 25, 2015 }} from ''[[The Independent]]''</ref> This garnered attention in the press after the girl's mother posted the exchange on her blog.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.byjenniferoconnell.com/2012/11/hasbro-knows-all-about-selling-to-kids.html |title=Hasbro knows all about selling to kids – and nothing much about talking to them |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306084349/http://www.byjenniferoconnell.com/2012/11/hasbro-knows-all-about-selling-to-kids.html |archive-date=March 6, 2013}}</ref> ''Guess Who?'' had previously received complaints over gender and ethnic bias in its choice of 24 images.<ref name="independent.co.uk"/>

Hasbro primarily sells toys directed at girl or boy markets. As such, there have been criticisms that Hasbro's toys reinforce [[gender stereotypes]]. For example, in December 2012, 13-year-old McKenna Pope started a campaign on [[Change.org]], calling on the company to create a "boy-friendly" version of the popular [[Easy-Bake Oven]] and to feature boys on their packaging and materials.<ref name="auto">[https://www.yahoo.com/gma/blogs/abc-blogs/teen-starts-campaign-gender-neutral-easy-bake-oven-155338662--abc-news-topstories.html "Teen starts campaign for gender neutral Easy Bake Oven"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407102709/http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/teen-starts-campaign-gender-neutral-easy-bake-oven-155338662--abc-news-topstories.html |date=April 7, 2014 }} from ''[[Good Morning America]]''</ref><ref name="auto1">[https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2012-dec-04-la-fi-easy-bake-20121204-story.html "Teen girl petitions Hasbro to market Easy Bake Oven also to boys"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530075646/https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2012-dec-04-la-fi-easy-bake-20121204-story.html |date=May 30, 2023 }} from the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''</ref> Within a week, over 30,000 people signed her petition.<ref name="auto2">{{cite news |author=Grinberg |first=Emanuella |date=December 6, 2012 |title=Teen says pink toy ovens discourage boys from kitchen play |work=CNN |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/06/living/gender-toy-marketing-petition/ |access-date=December 6, 2012 |archive-date=December 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121212072626/http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/06/living/gender-toy-marketing-petition/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Hasbro was criticized for "sexist" product design when its 2015 ''[[Star Wars]]'' [[Monopoly board game]] failed to feature [[Rey (Star Wars)|Rey]], the female protagonist in ''[[Star Wars: The Force Awakens]]'', while including all of the supporting male characters. Hasbro explained that Rey was left out of the Monopoly game to avoid spoilers, because the game was released months before the movies.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.polygon.com/2016/1/5/10715144/hasbro-explains-why-rey-was-excluded-from-star-wars-monopoly|title=Hasbro explains why Rey was excluded from Star Wars: Monopoly (update)|website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]|date=January 5, 2016|access-date=December 1, 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201182552/https://www.polygon.com/2016/1/5/10715144/hasbro-explains-why-rey-was-excluded-from-star-wars-monopoly|url-status=live}}</ref> On January 5, 2016, Hasbro announced that Rey would be included in future versions.  Hasbro later stated that it struggled to distribute the updated Monopoly game that includes the Rey piece, because retailers (especially in the United States) showed "insufficient interest" after having already purchased stock of the first release.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2017/07/13/star-wars-hasbro-on-why-the-rey-piece-is-still-missing-from-monopoly|title=Star Wars: Hasbro on why the Rey piece is still missing from Monopoly|date=July 12, 2017}}</ref>

On October 2, 2015, Lorraine Markham sued Hasbro for breach of contract for failure to pay royalties to her. She was seeking a declaration from the U.S. District Court in Providence that her husband Bill Markham was the sole creator of ''[[The Game of Life]]''.<ref name="auto3">{{cite web|title=Complaint|url=https://www.pacermonitor.com/view/JYBB46Q/Markham_Concepts_Inc_v_Hasbro_Inc__ridce-15-00419__0001.0.pdf|website=PacerMonitor|access-date=November 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117031411/http://www.pacermonitor.com/view/JYBB46Q/Markham_Concepts_Inc_v_Hasbro_Inc__ridce-15-00419__0001.0.pdf|archive-date=November 17, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

On August 7, 2020, Hasbro produced a DreamWorks Animation [[Troll doll]] device for [[pre-school]] children which had an unadvertised activator on the doll's private parts that caused the device to emit several audio recordings that were questioned by some American mothers; in particular one of them posted a [[Facebook]] video stream that went [[Viral video|viral]]. In it, she questioned whether the intent was to [[Child grooming|groom]] children for depravity. A Hasbro senior officer for global communications said that it was "not intentional" and the company removed the device from the marketplace. A writer for ''[[USA Today]]'' opined that "We rate the claim that the doll was designed to groom children as PARTLY FALSE."<ref name="dsfact">{{cite news|last1=Stanglin|first1=Doug|date=August 7, 2020|title=Fact check: Troll doll button in 'private' area not intentional or part of kids 'grooming'|publisher=USA Today|agency=Gannett Satellite Information Network|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/08/07/fact-check-troll-doll-draws-fire-giggle-button-private-parts/3307417001/|access-date=August 12, 2020|archive-date=August 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812170713/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/08/07/fact-check-troll-doll-draws-fire-giggle-button-private-parts/3307417001/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In late December 2022, continuing into 2023, Hasbro and subsidiary company Wizards of the Coast received backlash from Dungeons & Dragons fans due to leaked information indicating the companies planned to revoke a longstanding open license and to replace it with one that imposed severe new regulations on content created under the previous license agreement.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-ogl-license-wizards-of-the-coast-wotc-1849985196?rev=1673627209433 |title=Linda Codega at Gizmodo |date=January 13, 2023 |access-date=January 13, 2023}}</ref> The legality of this move by Hasbro has been debated.

In 2023, subsidiary Wizards of the Coast hired several [[Pinkerton (detective agency)|Pinkerton]] employees to seize the upcoming ''March of the Machine: The Aftermath'' card set for trading card game Magic: The Gathering from a YouTuber who had purchased them from a local game store and published their contents on YouTube ahead of release.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.polygon.com/23695923/mtg-aftermath-pinkerton-raid-leaked-cards |title=Magic publishers sent Pinkerton agents to a YouTuber's house to retrieve leaked cards |website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]] |date=April 24, 2023 |access-date=April 26, 2023 |archive-date=April 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429051743/https://www.polygon.com/23695923/mtg-aftermath-pinkerton-raid-leaked-cards |url-status=live }}</ref>