Johnson and Johnson's gets Clean and Clear-er

Johnson and Johnson’s Clean and Clear skin care recently began the #SeeTheRealMe campaign, which is a series of videos that shares the lives of people around the world as they come of age.   The campaign’s most recent face is Jazz, who is a transgender 14-year-old, who tells her story of growing up and coming to terms with the fact that she was “a girl trapped in a boy’s body.”  She even discusses the unwelcoming comments she received from her peers, such has people referring to her as an “it.”  In the Clean & Clear video, she explains that she recently decided to embrace who she was, by making new friends and hanging out with other girls.  Jazz explains, “The real me is happy and proud to be who I am. And I’m just having fun being one of the girls.”

This campaign, and especially this video of the campaign reminded me of the reading from class titled, Information-Seeking Practices during the Sexual Development of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Individuals: The Influence and Effects of Coming out in a Mediated Environment.  This article studied how self-identifying lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals used media during their “coming out” process, as well as the effects of this media use.  This study found that the Internet played a crucial role in the development of these identities. 

Although Jazz does not identify as LGB, she does identify as transgender, which also consists of a “coming out” process that forces an individual to go against the norm and face adversity.  This process can be challenging for any individual, and Clean and Clear’s campaign aspires to assist an individual that may be in similar shoes as Jazz.  In this sense, the Internet and media, as discussed in our class reading, are often resources to assist individuals in their coming of age.  Clean and Clear’s campaign may potentially be a huge factor in letting other transgender individuals know that they are not alone.

I also think it is important to mention the risk that Johnson and Johnson’s took with this video in the sense that they may lose consumers who do not agree with or challenge LGBTQ issues.  I think it is a great campaign in it’s structure, and should be recognized for the strong stance they took on this issue.

However, Jazz looks extremely happy and fun loving in her segment of this campaign.  This may turn away other transgender individuals who may not have had such an easy process.  In other words, there may be other transgender teenagers who are facing a much more difficult time, and may see Jazz’s life as easy or unrealistic.  In this sense, Jazz’s story may be inspirational, but uninformative for teens who may be seeking help in a deeper sense.

So the question becomes, are these media outlets for LGBTQ adolescents the best possible way to reach this audience? Or are there other, perhaps more realistic ways to facilitate these adolescents in potentially the most important time of their lives?

Work Cited:

Bond, B. J., Hefner, V. & Drogos, K. L. (2009).  Information-seeking practices during the sexual development of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals: The influence and effects of coming out in a mediated environment.  Sexuality and Culture: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, 13(1), 32-50.