Not long after removing the gender labels in its toy section, Target has once again impressed the social justice wing of the Internet—this time by using a model with braces and arm crutches in a Halloween ad for children's costumes.
The model in question is a little girl wearing a Princess Elsa costume from Disney's Frozen. The ad itself went viral after the mother of a child with a disability posted it on Facebook.
"Dear Target, I love you," she wrote. "Thank you for including a child with braces and arm crutches into your advertising campaign!"
Others took to Twitter to praise the ad, and Target for its ongoing dedication to diversity.
Good to see @Target's positive representation of disability in their #Halloween costume advertising: https://t.co/1cS3A4vjBc
— Leonard Cheshire (@LeonardCheshire) October 27, 2015
It's wonderful to see Target normalizing children with disabilities in their latest Halloween ad! #ChapmanSMhttps://t.co/zSyVNiJUju
— Michelle Sachs (@michelle_sachs) October 27, 2015
Shoutout to @Target for showing this beautiful girl who happens to have a disability as Elsa! https://t.co/yAeoE24x0E via @someecards
— Sarah Crumrine (@crumr018) October 27, 2015
Awesome #marketing choices. @Target Includes Girl With a Disability as Frozen's Elsa in Halloween Ad https://t.co/bMhFScwFtA
— Courtney Schelp (@SchelpPhoto) October 27, 2015
In case you'd forgotten, Target used a child model with Down syndrome in an ad a few years ago. It also revamped its plus-size clothing line earlier this year, and debuted its first-ever plus-size male model this month.
This is, of course, a creative way to compete with Walmart, whose public image is a blend of convenience and tone-deaf heartlessness, as well as a way for Target to distract from its own union-busting. But whatever the motivation, it's hard to ignore the impact of Target's diversity efforts on people who don't get much public representation.