Meghan Markle proudly retells well-worn tale about campaigning against ‘sexist’ P&G soap ad at age 11 during SXSW panel – as she insists story is proof ‘your voice is not small, it just needs to be heard’

Meghan Markle appeared on a celebrity-studded panel at SXSW to mark International Women’s Day where she once again discussed how she wrote to Procter & Gamble aged 11 to ask the brand to change its sexist soap commercial.

The Duchess of Sussex, now 42, joined actress Brooke Shields and longtime news anchor Katie Couric on-stage at the prestigious festival, where she was leading a panel discussion about ‘breaking barriers’ and ‘women’s representation.’

She launched into a passionate discussion about the importance of more gender equality before sharing the story about how she had lobbied the manufacturing company to change a TV ad for dishwashing liquid in 1993.

Meghan relived the exchange as she proclaimed to the audience: ‘Your voice is not small it just needs to be heard.’

Meghan Markle appeared on a celebrity-studded panel at SXSW to mark International Women’s Day where she once again discussed how she wrote to Procter & Gamble aged 11 to ask the brand to change its sexist soap commercial 

Meghan had opened up the discussion with an impassioned speech touting the many female-focused initiatives that she and Prince Harry (pictured in the crowd) had been working on through their nonprofit – the Archewell Foundation 

Meghan had opened up the discussion with an impassioned speech touting the many female-focused initiatives that she and Prince Harry had been working on through their nonprofit – the Archewell Foundation.   

She was then prompted to dish the detail once again about how she had written to Procter & Gamble as part of a campaign to get it to rethink its sexist slogans.

‘I was about 11 years old and I had seen a commercial on TV for a dishwashing liquid that said “women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans,”‘ the mom-of-two began.

‘The boys in my class at the time said “yeah, that’s where women belong, in the kitchen” – and at 11 I just found that infuriating.

‘I wrote lots of letters and put pen to paper and they ended up changing the commercial to “people all over America.”‘

Meghan continued: ‘It’s funny to look back at it now because that was before social media where you had a reach that was so much greater. It was just an 11-year-old with pen and paper.

‘But it just goes to show that if you know that there is something wrong and you are using your voice to advocate in the direction of what is right that can really land and resonate and make a huge change for a lot of people.

‘Your voice is not small it just needs to be heard.’

Meghan appeared on Nick News after lobbying the manufacturing company to change a TV ad for dishwashing liquid in 1993

Meghan then lowered her microphone and beamed as she was met with a hearty round of applause from the audience.

In 1993, Markle appeared on Nick News, an educational program for children that aired on the popular cable network Nickelodeon.

In a video previously unearthed by Inside Edition, Markle is seen on the show while she and her classmates were watching a television commercial for Ivory dish washer soap. 

Speaking directly to camera crews, the 11-year-old said: ‘I don’t think it’s right for kids to grow up thinking these things that just mom does everything.

‘It’s always mom does this and mom does that.’

She concluded at the time: ‘If you see something that you don’t like or offended by on television or any other place, write letters and send them to the right people.

‘You can really make a difference for not just yourself but lots of other people.’

2015: Markle recalled the incident during a speech at the United Nations – once again to mark International Women’s Day

2019: Meghan once again discussed the exchange during a panel discussion hosted by King’s College London for the annual celebration of women 

But today at SXSW was not the first time she had retold the story. 

In 2015, Markle recalled the incident during a speech at the United Nations – once again to mark International Women’s Day.

‘I remember feeling shocked and angry and also just feeling so 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 bring about change.

‘He encouraged me to write letters, so I did — to the most powerful people I could think of,’ Meghan shared.

And, once again in 2019, she discussed the exchange during a panel discussion, alongside musician Annie Lennox and former Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard, hosted by King’s College London for the annual celebration of women.

Meghan, who was pregnant with son Archie at the time, dished: ‘Truth be told, at 11 I don’t think I even knew what sexism meant. I just knew that something struck me internally that was telling me it was wrong, and I knew that it was wrong. 

‘And using that as my moral compass and moving through from the age of 11, at that age I was able to change this commercial.’

Following her latest appearance, viewers took to social media users in their droves to criticize the retelling of the already well-worn tale

She added: ‘It really set up the trajectory for me to say, if there was a wrong, if there is a lack of justice, and there is an inequality, then someone needs to do something. And why not me?’ 

Following her latest appearance, viewers took to social media users in their droves to criticize the retelling of the already well-worn tale.

On X – formerly Twitter – underneath a snippet shared from the event, one user wrote: ‘How many times are we going to hear the same story? This woman is in her 40s and that’s all she has? Pretty pathetic!’

Another added: ‘Not this old story again ffs does she have anything else????’

And a third said: ‘Not that damn 30-year-old dish soap story again.’

Someone else complained: ‘We’ve only heard this story like 17 times. Enough already.’