Clean & Clear with Jazz

The article also appears on Huffington Post. 

If you'd like to read it there, then click here!

They say time heals all wounds.

I've been around a long time in the marketing world, and I'm still licking a few old wounds.

Like when I forgot to put wedding rings on a couple we were featuring in a print ad.

Like when I received a disturbing weekend phone call from a high ranking official at my company when he saw our newly launched campaign on MTV's Spring Break.

Like when I sat in the crowded conference room when one of my major clients decided to pull out of The Ellen Show when she came out.

Time not only heals all wounds, it also opens our minds and evolves our thinking.

Yes, I've been got caught in the midst of many debates when as marketers we've tried to deal with various societal issues. I wasn't always on the positive receiving end and looking back, to be honest, I wish I had been even more vocal.

I could have done more; I should have done more.

So you can imagine my extreme delight when I heard that the brand I personally launched back in that day, Clean & Clear, was featuring a transgender teenager in their new campaign. That brand was my baby, and remains a shining moment in my career.

Sheer, unadulterated, ear to ear, delight. Dancing the "happy dance" as I write this post.

If only I had been able to do something like this back then!

I'm not sure if this is the first of its kind, but it certainly feels like it. To feature a confident, beautiful, articulate, and intelligent teenager who happens to be transgender in an advertising campaign is nothing short of breakthrough.

Standing ovation.

We've come a long way baby, and I couldn't be prouder.

The new Clean & Clear campaign is called #SeeTheRealMe...you can read about it by clicking here or you can watch it in this video here.

Let the healing begin.

What's your experience? JIM.