After a lifetime of service, a Saskatoon firefighter is being honoured for his work with his picture on pop bottles across North America.
Jones Soda is known for featuring customer-submitted photos on its labels. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it put a call out for photos of “unsung heroes.”
Jody Ruest’s daughter, Sydney, has had a few photos on the bottles before. When she heard about this new challenge, he said she submitted the photo.
It’s a picture of Ruest, who is captain of Saskatoon airport’s fire department, during a training exercise at the airport in 2008.
“It’s a little unreal to see the picture on the bottle,” he told Global News.
“I’m very happy to be picked and selected. I’m very honoured to be doing that. I’ve been a firefighter all my life.”
There are six bottles in the series in Canada. They feature photos of restaurants, truck drivers, and Ruest.
Jones Soda vice-president of marketing Maisie Antoniello said the company wanted to show support for people like Ruest during the pandemic who might not be recognized for their work.
“There were a lot of other unsung heroes, of people just doing their thing that didn’t get as much visibility,” she said.
About 50,000 labels with Ruest’s picture were printed, according to Antoniello. She said Ruest’s bottle is on shelves now.