We may see many different babies in our lives but one that perhaps crosses our paths more than any other is the Gerber baby. It all started with a woman who is named Ann Turner Cook, and she was the original Gerber baby. Of course, that was back in 1928 when the food brand started the marketing campaign. She was a cute, wide-eyed baby that was drawn in black and white and every jar of Gerber’s baby food would have her picture on the side. Today, she is 93 years old.
Something else that Cook has done is to inspire Gerber to search for a new baby every year. It’s a tradition that people look forward to because they never know who they are going to choose. They try to spread things out and to do something unique, both because they want to give some babies exposure and because it is good for marketing purposes as well. Parents are encouraged to send in information and photos of their babies, and then Gerber chooses the one that is going to be on their packaging for the next year.
The Gerber baby for 2020 was just named and she is a special little girl. Her name is Magnolia Earl, and she is a one-year-old spokesbaby who is the first Gerber baby that was adopted. The company said: “At Gerber, we have always recognized that every baby is a Gerber baby. In the 10 years we have hosted Photo Search, we have been proud to feature babies of diverse backgrounds. This year is no exception by featuring Magnolia, our first adopted Gerber Spokesbaby.”
Lucas Warren was the Gerber spokesbaby who was replaced. He also made history by being the first Gerber baby with Down syndrome. Magnolia’s mom thought that it was incredible, saying: “It means that when people see our families, or if you see a family that doesn’t necessarily match, that you don’t have to question the belonging of anybody in that family.”