If you live in Danville or any of the surrounding cities, you’ve likely seen the Justin Dorsey Plumbing trucks with the crying-baby logo. Maybe you’ve found yourself thinking, ‘Why a crying baby? Who is this crying baby?’
Today is the day we’re going to share the story behind the crying baby.
Who is the crying baby?
The crying baby is actually Justin Dorsey’s grandson, Walker Dorsey, when he was just 3 months old. His mom, Ariane Dorsey, says the now-infamous photo happened unintentionally while trying to get a photo of him to mark his three-month milestone.
How did the photo end up on Justin Dorsey’s logo?
Justin Dorsey, the owner of Justin Dorsey Plumbing, says customer research is what led him to use the crying-baby image in his logo. According to the research, approximately 70 percent of home purchases involving plumbing work are influenced by females, and females they studied didn’t like any of his ads that featured pictures of trucks and plumbers. They did, however, like the image of a crying baby, because it was a non-threatening image that represented how people feel when they have plumbing problems.
“It has had more traction than anything else I’ve tried previously,” said Justin. “Folks remember our company because of the crying baby. Originally, we used a clipart crying baby, but when … we captured this photo, we began to use it. It’s nice to have a personal story about my grandson that we can share when people ask about it.”
The crying baby all grown up
Today, Walker is 13 years old and an eighth-grader at Danville Middle School, where he puts up with occasional ribbing from his buddies for his “fame.” He enjoys soccer and watching college basketball, and his favorite subject in school is math. When asked what he thinks about his widespread photo, he responded as any blunt teenager would — “It’s kinda weird,” — a thought initially echoed by his mom as well.
“At first it was a little strange seeing my baby’s face everywhere,” Ariane said. “But now that he’s older, I sometimes don’t even notice, or I’ll just say, ‘There’s Walker!’ and everyone in the car looks.” Walker’s three siblings — an older and younger brother and one sister, the youngest — think it’s funny and often ask him, “What were you crying about?”