Bob CollinsMore than a half million people sent photos of their babies in this year’s bid to be the Gerber baby.
Only one made it.
This one:
Kairi Yang is the first Gerber baby of Hmong descent, the company said in its press release:
As soon as we saw her photo, we fell in love with Kairi’s expressive eyes and angelic face, looking toward the future and being excited for all that it holds,” said Bill Partyka, President and CEO, Gerber. “We believe that every baby is a Gerber baby, and this year, are thrilled to recognize Kairi as the new face of Gerber. It’s been an incredible year celebrating our 2018 Spokesbaby Lucas Warren and his family, and we are excited to see the world fall in love all over again with our newest Spokesbaby.”
Since the world embraced the story of Lucas, Gerber invited him to serve as an honorary judge on this year’s panel to bookend his reign as Spokesbaby and to help welcome Kairi to the Gerber family.
“When we first found out Kairi won, we were speechless and couldn’t believe it. We are beyond thrilled that our sweet Kairi is Gerber’s 2019 Spokesbaby,” said Kairi’s mom, Ying Vue. “Kairi’s personality is larger than life, and she always maintains a spunky attitude. We hope Kairi’s one-of-a-kind, entertaining personality and vibrant facial expressions radiate positivity around the world, just like she does in our home every single day!”
Launched in 2010, Photo Search was inspired by the countless photos received over the years of parents who see their little ones in Gerber’s iconic baby logo, which features the original Gerber baby, Ann Turner Cook.
Each year, Photo Search continues to grow bigger. Seeing how the world has embraced the welcoming of each Spokesbaby, Gerber is planning to launch Photo Search globally ahead of its 10th anniversary to continue celebrating babies from all communities.
On a web page for the “spokesbaby“, we learn that Kairi’s name is a nickname that her mom used in high school, a character from a game called Kingdom Hearts.
Today’s announcement concludes the reign of Lucas Warren, the first Gerber baby with Down Syndrome.
Lucas, we’re told, was a judge in this year’s competition.
The selection of a Hmong baby was too much for some people to handle.
