14 DAY TRIAL // 4-year-old Seb White, from Bath, in the UK, is one of the models included in the Marks&Spencer Christmas Ad for 2012. What's special about Seb, though, is that this happy looking little boy suffers from Down's syndrome.
The Marks&Spencer initiative to include the young model in their winter campaign, which we talked about in September, is truly inspiring.
Seb looks professional as he giggles, runs around and plays with other children, in the ad. Mother Caroline, 39, described that Seb was happy to be in the campaign, and see himself on TV, HuffPost writes.
She approached Marks&Spencer on Facebook, asking why children with disabilities are not represented in their adverts.
“He has striking, unusual features, charms the pants off everyone he meets and his little face is full of magic and mischief,” Caroline posted.
Company reps approached her after taking their first look at Seb. It didn't hurt that Caroline's post gained a lot of support from parents visiting the retailer's Facebook page.
“Our initial involvement with Seb was due to the overwhelming response to Caroline’s post on our Facebook page... However, he won his place in our TV ad thanks to the natural charm and magical personality he showed on set at our magazine shoot,” M&S executive director of marketing, Steve Sharp, says.
“We always look for kids who have fun in front of the camera and Sebastian was a pleasure to work with,” a retailer spokesperson described, in September.
Mother Caroline is trying to raise awareness on the necessity of including kids with Down's syndrome in everyday activities.
“If Seb appearing in a TV campaign raises awareness of Down's, challenges stereotypes and helps other parents feel better about having a child with it, I will be very happy,” she says.
“My heartfelt plight is to get him ‘out there’ and get the message across that different isn’t any less wonderful - or even that different,” she explains.
