Target Praised for Using Down Syndrome Boy in Ad
Target is raking in praise over a recent ad featuring a 6-year-old boy with Down syndrome.
Buzz sparked when daddyblogger Rick Smith noticed the ad and wrote a post on his website, “Noah’s Dad,” about his own son with Down syndrome.
In the post, Smith applauded the store for including Ryan, the young model and for making a statement without making a fuss.
“This wasn’t a ‘Special Clothing For Special People’ catalog,” he wrote. “There wasn’t a call out somewhere on the page proudly proclaiming that ‘Target’s proud to feature a model with Down syndrome in this week’s ad!’ “
“And they didn’t even ask him to model a shirt with the phrase, ‘We Aren’t All Angels’ printed on the front.”
The ad could help people understand that children with Down syndrome are typical kids, Smith told the Daily News.
“Some people imagine children born with Down syndrome as sick, or unable to do many of the same tasks that a typical child does,” he said. “However, this is not true.”
It’s certainly not true for Ryan, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed model, who has also appeared in a catalog for Nordstrom.
“The whole process of modeling is an extreme confidence booster in him,” said Ryan’s mother, who wrote a comment on Smith’s article.
“We are honored that Ryan is making the Down syndrome community proud. He is a beautiful boy inside and out. He makes us better parents, and a better family.”
The ads might suggest the entertainment industry is beginning to embrace less traditional talent – “Glee” actress Lauren Potter was born with Down syndrome, and another young model with the condition, Taya Kennedy, was signed to an agency in the U.K. last year.
According to Smith, they’re all signs of what people with Down syndrome can achieve.
“Today, people with Down syndrome hold down jobs, get married, learn to drive, and take public transportation, and are productive members of society,” he said.
“There’s never better time in the history of the world for a child to be born with Down syndrome.”
Zahava Krevsky
Target has been incorporating “special” kids for many years in their print ads…kids in wheelchairs and kids with crutches…as well as Down syndrome kids…Kudos to Target!!
Down syndrome mommy
As beautiful as this is and i love what Target is doing the person you sited Rick Smith from Noah’s dad blog is not regarded very high in the Down syndrome community among the non-Jews and Jews alike. He is a proselytizing Goy who uses his son’s special needs to promote himself for financial gain and for religious conversion, and he is just an outright creepy guy. I would remove his name from the article.
they are not diffrent
i dont see why they shouldnt they are normal kids like everyone eles the only diffrences is the facail features
me
hes os cute!
Me
Agree with 4
He is really cute!
np
Whoever posted the title of this should know you should write “Target has BOY WITH DOWNS SYNDROME” in ad… not “Downsyndrome boy” They are a person before they are a disability. Please remember that.