The Gerber Products Company, now subsidiary of Nestle Group, is a baby foods and baby-related articles supplier in the US. Their logo is the notorious Gerber Baby which depicts the 5-months-old face of Ann Turner Cook. The Gerber Products Company is holding a yearly contest to choose the new Gerber “spokesbaby”. This year, for the first time in the contest’s history, the Gerber baby will be Lucas who is suffering from the Down syndrome.
Lucas Warren, from Dalton, GA, has been chosen from 140,000 entries
His parents posted a photo on Instagram with the contest’s hashtag showing the baby smiling. His large and adorable smile was most probably the aspect that made him being chosen as the 2018’s Gerber Baby.
“Every year, since the beginning of the Gerber Baby Photo Search, we choose the baby who exemplifies Gerber’s longstanding heritage of recognizing that every baby is a Gerber baby, and Lucas is a perfect fit,” admitted for CNN one of the Gerber’s representatives, Kristen Wooten.
The company has been holding this contest since 1927, year-after-year, without interruption. Lucas Warren, the new Gerber baby for 2018, will appear in all the company’s social media campaigns, as well as in the future company’s ads and commercials.
In reward, the baby and his parents will get a $50,000 check.
His parents hope Lucas will change people’s way to think about kids with Down Syndrome
After all, the opportunity offered to Lucas by the Gerber Company will also have an impact on how people treat baby’s with Down Syndrome and, as Lucas’s mother hopes, it will educate people to be more supportive and tolerant.
“We hope this opportunity sheds light on the special needs community and educates people that with acceptance and support, individuals with special needs have the potential to change the world — just like our Lucas,” the boy’s mother declared.
Hopefully, Lucas’s presence on all the Gerber’s ads and social networks marketing campaigns will indeed shed some light on the needs the babies with Down Syndrome have and will increase people acceptance.
