Heart-Warming Target Ad

Big-box retailers are, many times, vilified in our world as too big...to big to care.  Well, maybe that's not the case all of the time.

Target, certainly qualifies as a big-box retailer, but not caring...not so much.  They quietly have run an ad that includes a 6-year-old boy with Down syndrome.  No biggie, huh?  He's not featured, only 'included' as 'one-of-the-kids, as he should be.

Rick Smith, whose site ‘Noah’s Dad’ is about his son with Down syndrome, noticed, and is thrilled about it.

He wrote in a post on January 2,

“This wasn’t a ‘Special Clothing For Special People’ catalog. 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.

In other words, they didn’t make a big deal out of it. I like that.”

I think that we all feel that the ad might help people understand that children with Down syndrome are typical kids.  Smith went on to say  “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 says. “However, this is not true.”

Ryan is the blonde, blue-eyed model, and this wasn’t his first time in front of the cameras — he’s also appeared in a catalog for Nordstrom.  Ryan's confidence is getting a big boost, too.

Thanks Target, for helping us grow a bit, to understand, to accept, and to better appreciate the 'specialness' in all of us!