I absolutely love that Target is using a little boy in their ads who has Down syndrome … and not calling attention to it. It’s not an ad about disability. It’s not an ad asking to join a cause. It’s just an ad and he’s just a kid. The boy is six years old and his name is Ryan, and he was also in a Nordstrom catalog. You can read an article about him here, but this quote sums it up for me:
The best thing about Target and Nordstrom’s casting of Ryan is that he’s not singled out in any way — he’s just another super cute kid smiling for the camera. The ads are inclusive, yet they aren’t trying to prove a point. They come across as completely ordinary, which in this case is a really wonderful thing.