Media Blitz: Family in Need Flexes Its Quads

Weeks before their birth, the Tetrick quadruplets already had their very own professionally designed logo. And Web site. And advertising agency.

Before tiny Peyton, Parker, Camden and Christian--rare two sets of identical twins--entered the world, their parents were part of an unusual public relations blitz that portrays the joy of a suddenly large family and the distress of the financial burden caused, in part, by a father’s military activation.

Christina and Patrick Tetrick hired Lottridge Advertising of Wichita to solicit donations from local and national corporations, and to arrange media interviews.

Their goal is simple: Use the rarity of having two sets of identical twins--without fertility drugs, no less--the more general oddity of having quadruplets and the father’s plight as promotional tools to lure advertisers and help the family stay afloat.

Across town at Via Christi Medical Center, Sondra and Eldon Headrick were also dealing with the media frenzy generated by the birth of sextuplets, one day after the Tetrick boys were born April 5. The Headricks, who did use fertility drugs, said they would not hire an ad agency.

Commotion over multiple births isn’t new. Generous neighbors and firms often help newly enlarged families with room additions, outfitted minivans and months--or years--of diaper supplies.

But those offering help usually seek out the family in need, making the Tetricks’ effort an interesting twist. “We are not interested in making money out of our kids,” Christina Tetrick said. “We are just interested in keeping our house.”

The couple bought a two-bedroom home just days before learning they would have quadruplets. (Doctors said the odds of having two sets of identical twins are 1 in 25 million.)

Their income, meanwhile, has dropped by 60%, they say. Christina, formerly employed as a construction engineer, can’t work while rearing four infants, and Patrick has had to take a leave from his regular job because his Army Reserve unit has been activated as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, and his military pay is less than his civilian salary.

So the Tetricks hired Lottridge, and a media campaign was born:

* Hundreds of buttons bearing the babies’ red, white and blue logo--four tiny footprints forming a circle around a star--were printed and handed out to hospital staff, family, friends and others.

* The logo was printed on cigar bands and put around 75 blue bubble-gum cigars, many given to reporters at a news conference. Even the press passes carried the logo.

* The Web site is a splash of red, white and blue, with pictures of the children and their latest news. One graphic features four tiny babies and Mom, joined by what looks like a soldier carrying a rifle.

* After their birth, the ad agency ordered 70 T-shirts to distribute to the doctors and nurses as well as the soldiers in Dad’s Reserve unit. “Welcome the Tetrick Quadruplets,” the shirts say, complete with their birth date and names.

“We thought it was a nice little gesture, something that hadn’t happened before--something to give to people who have given so much time and energy,” said Jerry Pierce of Lottridge Advertising.

At the Assn. of American Advertising Agencies in New York City, editorial assistant Earnie Stevenson pulled up the Tetricks’ Web site. He said it surprised him, as did the parents’ hiring an ad agency. “I’ve never heard of it,” he said. “Historically, I remember with births of quintuplets what usually happens is advertisers approach them and corporations donate diapers. But I’m not aware of parents actually going out and seeking sponsorship.”

Pierce acknowledged that Lottridge has received “a little bit of flak” about its involvement, but he said all the promotional items were donated to the family by the agency. “They are concerned about honest-to-goodness keeping the lights on,” he said.

The agency had said before the birth that it was “investing” in the family, and that it hoped one day to get paid by finding product endorsements that would also help the Tetricks meet the cost of rearing the quads.

“I don’t think people should judge--without being in the position,” Christina Tetrick said.

As both sets of parents await the day their children come home--all the babies are expected to stay in the hospital for about a month--each is dealing with the financial aftermath in different ways.

For the Headrick sextuplets, the hospital’s foundation is handling donations to help the family. Among them are $6,000 worth of breast milk, offers of baby-care products for a year, car seats, diapers, and blankets from a Wichita woman. About $1,000 in unsolicited cash donations have arrived.

As for the Tetricks, the agency has secured a leased van and four car seats from a local car dealership. It’s also working on a shopping spree for other items.

The Tetricks also received a donation of storage for the babies’ umbilical cord blood for the next 18 years from Cord Blood Banking of San Bruno, Calif. Cord blood is rich in stem cells, which could be valuable if the babies ever developed cancer, leukemia or certain other diseases.

The Tetricks have established a Quad Fund at a local bank, with a toll-free phone number for donations. Pierce was uncertain about the amount of donations made to the fund so far, but said they were not substantial.

His agency is trying to get as much media exposure as possible for the quadruplets, but the parents ultimately will decide what they will or won’t do.

Christina Tetrick said she decided against hiring an agent after the agency she initially contacted wanted her to bring the children to California to do ads while they were still less than a year old. She does not plan to put her children in ads while they are so young.

In return for donating the van to the family, Christina and Patrick have appeared in ads for the car dealership, which is mentioned on the quadruplets’ Web page.

“With exposure and notoriety, it will attract advertisers. Right now, they are so small as far as getting involved with corporate sponsors,” Pierce said.

What’s more important, he said, is that the babies will eventually need an education. “The family needs privacy, but they also need help--and there is a very fine line between them,” he said.