A little over a year ago, I posted some photos of Avery and Norah on facebook and got a message from a friend saying, "your girls could be models!". Of course we believe our girls are beauties, like all parents think of their children. But the difference about hearing it from this particular friend is that her young daughter actually is a model... she does some modeling for toy companies to go on their toy packaging. We asked a few questions and looked into it. I got a contact name from my friend and emailed a couple home snapshots of Avery and Norah. Within a few hours I received an email back saying they would love to work with the girls! This is a very low key, no pressure opportunity. No "toddlers and tiaras" in this house. We work primarily with Little Tikes and Step2, both of which are located in the Akron area... within in minutes of Nana and Papa's house! That works out perfectly. If either of those toy companies chooses Avery or Norah for a photo shoot we get an email with a few days notice. If it fits into the schedule, great. If not, we just say "no thanks". Avery has gotten quite a few calls but we've only participated in two of them. The photo shoot only takes 15 or 20 minutes, but eats up half a day when you add in traveling. We aren't going to miss preschool or other activities for this, so we've passed on a few opportunities. But the ones she's done have been fun for her and for us. What a neat thing for her to be able to walk into a toy store and see her picture looking back at her from the boxes on the shelves. As you'll see from the below video, right now she's not too impressed. But as she gets older I think she'll appreciate what a unique opportunity she had! (Norah has had her moment in the spotlight as well, but we'll save that for another post)
They do the photo shoots about 6 months before the toy is actually released. Avery did shoots for two different toys last Fall and I'm sure had forgotten about it by the time the toys came out in stores. We heard the toys were out, so we decided to take a family trip to Toys R Us and surprise Avery. We walked in and there she was on an end-cap display right at the front of the store! Avery thought it was neat, but that was about it. I think it's a good thing she's not too interested... it means it's not going to her head. And as you'll notice in the video, Norah was sick as a dog. Poor girl had a horrible cold and had no idea what was going on. I think she just wanted to be at home in bed.
Although the girls do get paid a modest amount for their time, the toy is not provided. And of course we have to own the toy since our child is on the box! Which means, the whole thing is kind of a wash. But it sure is fun. Avery had a great time playing with the s'mores set as soon she got home. The sand table was a birthday gift a couple months later from Grandma and Grandpa and will make an appearance in a future blog post. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment