Congratulations to our 2018 Gerber Spokesbaby Lucas! Welcome to the family Lucas, send him 💙love! #AnythingForBaby [1]
After sifting through more than 140,000 entries for the 2018 Gerber Baby photo search, the company finally found its newest spokesperson spokesbaby: Lucas Warren. A 1-year-old from Georgia, Lucas is breaking the mold as Gerber's first spokesbaby with Down syndrome since the contest began back in the 1920s [3].
Lucas's mom, Courtney, told Today how she spontaneously entered her son into the contest [4] after a relative called attention to Gerber's ad requesting submissions. It was the young boy's contagious smile and happy spirit (and maybe his dapper bow tie, too!) that ultimately captured the hearts of the contest's moderators. "Every year, we choose the baby who best exemplifies Gerber's longstanding heritage of recognizing that every baby is a Gerber baby," Bill Partyka, Gerber's CEO and president, told Today. "This year, Lucas is the perfect fit."
Of course, his parents are ecstatic about the honor and confident that Gerber's choice will help others understand those with special needs. "We're hoping this will impact everyone — that it will shed a little bit of light on the special needs community and help more individuals with special needs be accepted and not limited," said Lucas's dad, Jason. "They have the potential to change the world, just like everybody else." Congrats to the Warren family for their little nugget's newest title!