By Lee Davis
Local consumers of the popular Jones Cola brand now have yet another reason to purchase their favorite beverage.
There might be someone they know on the bottle.
The story began more than a year ago when Heather Durham, a professional photographer from Vestavia Hills, submitted a photo for use by the Jones Soda Company, which produces a line of specialty soft drinks, non-carbonated beverages and other flavored drinks. The company has a long-standing tradition of choosing a small selection of candid black and white photographs submitted from around the world to feature in promotions and to use on labels of the product containers themselves.
Durham thought she had a photo that would be perfect for Jones Soda. Several years earlier, she had taken a picture of her children, Olivia and Luke, who were ages 6 and 3 respectively at the time, playing on a Slip ’N Slide in the family front yard.
“The picture was pure summer joy,” Durham said. “The kids had their mouths open and were laughing. It embodied everything that kids and summer are supposed to be about.
“I decided to send it in and see what happened.”
As good as the photo was, the odds of it being selected seemed small since thousands of images are submitted annually. A short time later, Durham’s photographer’s intuition proved correct. The soda company contacted her to say that the photo was to be used for a promotional advertisement.
That was impressive enough, but Durham got even better news a few weeks ago. Labels bearing the photo would be featured on random Jones Soda bottles and six packs that are for sale at retail outlets.
“They sent me a letter along with some sample labels in the mail,” Durham said. “It was so exciting, knowing that out of all the submissions, the photo of my kids was going to be on some of the bottles.”
Ever the entrepreneur, Durham came up with a unique way to use the bottles to promote her photography business.
“The first person to find the bottles with the photo in the stores and bring me a six pack will get a free mini-photo session within metro Birmingham,” she said.
Durham said interest in the bottles and labels has been overwhelming.
“I’m getting texts, calls and emails about it all the time,” she said. “It seems that a lot of people are looking for (the labeled bottles). The main thing is that it’s just a lot of fun.”
So how do Durham’s children – now 12 and 9 – feel about the Jones Bottle craze?
“They think it’s pretty cool,” Durham said. “They were so young when the photo was taken. I think it’s a good memory for them.”
Durham had established herself as a top-notch pro photographer long before ever contacting Jones Soda Company. She had worked in the fashion industry and was an art director for a magazine publisher before launching her own photography business 12 years ago.
Since then, she has been published in Birmingham Magazine, Alabama Weddings, the Huffington Post and many other websites and publications. Her top clients include Children’s of Alabama, the Bruno Event Team and the Southeastern Conference. She recently shot the Regions Tradition Golf Tournament and a press conference featuring World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Deontay Wilder.
She also specializes in engagement, wedding and family photography.
“All those years of working with images for catalogs and editorial layouts, I became amazed at the power of an image to tell a story,” Durham said. “So I began taking classes and working with other photographers to learn the skill.”
Durham has developed her photography skills so well that bottles carrying the photo of her kids may be the most sought-after product locally since Cabbage Patch Kids.
