Big Chicken

One morning in June I received an email from a member of our T21 community indicating that a local photographer was looking for a local family of four, including a child with Down syndrome around Ruby's age, to do a photo shoot for a Chick-fil-A ad. Even though we didn't meet the family-size requirements, I submitted our family photo and information because I was so excited that there was interest in this type of ad. A few days later, the photographer contacted me and asked me a few questions about Ruby and before I knew it, we were being sent directions for wardrobe. This was happening!

The day of the shoot, I packed up so many clothing items to provide options for the shoot - I think I bought out all of Old Navy! When we showed up, there was a photographer, Chick-fil-A food preppers, a stylist or two, and assistants for all of them. They picked a dress for Ruby first and I took her to the bathroom to get changed. Almost immediately Maddux was in there with us too, putting on a dress they chose for her. 

The first 'scene' they shot was Ruby alone. She was sitting on a wooden chair, soon to be holding a bowl of Mac-n-Cheese. (At this point, CFA did not have Mac-n-cheese on the menu, so this was a very exciting surprise for my kids.) For a bit, Ruby was just to hold the bowl, they would rotate it in her hands, they would move her in the chair, they would change the lighting and lens and everything else, all the while shooting photos on rapid fire. Finally, they let her take a bite. And from that moment on, she was eating the entire time they shot. They had to keep the bowl full for the photos, so  with every bite she took, they replaced it.

When they were done with this scene (probably an hour of shooting), they gave Ruby a break. She sat on a couch with Lehr and read some books while they set up the next scene. This one was to be a picnic and they wanted to use Maddux and Eli also. To set the lighting and staging, they had the big kids sit there the whole time, so they could give Ruby a break and (hopefully) pull her back in when they were set. Maddux and Eli did great, mostly holding food and drinks, as another thousand photos were taken. (Later, they complained that their legs and feet hurt because of the angles they had to sit and hold for so long.)

Finally the picnic scene was ready to pull Ruby in: she'd had a great break, but I worried that she wouldn't be able to shift gears again. As she often does, that girl proved me wrong and sat right down with Eli and Maddux. She listened to the directions and held the things she was supposed to hold and ate the food she was supposed to eat. This portion was maybe only 30 minutes, and when they were done, the photographer told us we were finished. (The good news was that meant that all of the clothes we didn't use still had tags on them so I could return them!)

I promised the kids we could stop at Chick-fil-A for milkshakes when we left. Ruby fell asleep no less than five minutes after we got in the car though, so she didn't even receive her payment for modeling so well. That girl was spent...she used every bit of energy she had in that three hours!

And can we talk about that three hours? Ruby did SO well. When I think about what it required for her to sit still, in the position they asked her to, for an hour, and smile when they said smile, eat when they said eat, hold a bowl the way they wanted...the focus and attention and self-control she displayed was impressive. And then, to take a break (which she probably thought meant she was done for the day) and still come back and do all of that again...amazing to say the least.

 When we left the shoot, we didn't know when the photos would be used, but we knew it wouldn't be for a few months because the Mac-n-Cheese wouldn't be added to the menu until the fall. Outside of that, we had no information about when (or even if?) the photos would be used. So I watched social media starting in August, hoping to see Ruby's smile. At the end of the month, I reached out to the photographer, just to see if he'd heard anything or knew if they'd been used already and I'd missed it. He had no information, but said he had submitted the photos to Chick-fil-A (so we knew they were out there, at least).

And then, just a few days later, I woke up to an email from a friend who received a Chick-fil-A email including a photo of Ruby. And then a text from another friend with the same photos. And then Chick-fil-A's Facebook page changed their cover image to the three-kid photo. All day I kept receiving texts with photos from friends and reposts online from friends in other areas of the city and country that received emails or saw her on social media or on the CFA website. It was like Christmas! Every new photo of Ruby that popped up was cuter than the last. 

Y'all, this is SO exciting for our community. Just as has happened a few times in recent years, an ad for a major company has used someone 'different' for a campaign. And we couldn't be more excited about it because putting the face of a child with Down syndrome in the mix with all of the other typical kids out there helps us all remember that what makes us different makes us beautiful. So thankful for the companies that are recognizing this, whether they include models with Down syndrome, or in a wheelchair, or with a prosthetic....we love it all!