You gotta hand it to Joe Simpson. He’s mastered the art of celebrity branding. Look at how he’s managed to package his children’s careers throughout the years.
First, Jessica Simpson was the ditzy but lovable blonde—with her classic moments in MTV’s hit reality show Newlyweds, her typecast roles in Dukes of Hazzard and Blonde Ambition, and her picture-perfect pop singing career.
Second, there was little sister Ashlee. She had to come off completely different from Jessica, so she went brunette and channeled her inner angst for a pop/rock career.
Soon Jessica’s marriage and bubblegum strategy plummeted. Post-Nick Lachey and post-Dukes, her image was plagued with relationship problems, weight issues, and career staleness. It was time for a revamp and Joe Simpson found the perfect marketing plan.
Instead of going down the Britney Spears route, it was time to present the public with a more positive image of Jessica. Hence, Jessica Simpson: The Beauty Ambassador was born.
The 29-year-old launched a new VH1 reality show called The Price of Beauty, where she travels around the world with her best friend CaCee Cobb and hairstylist Ken Paves to discover beauty customs and women’s cultures in other countries.
She also launched Operation Smile, an initiative that empowers women to appreciate their own beauty. The project will “develop tips and interactive tools that will help young people take this newfound inner strength and share what they’ve learned to empower others to do the same.”
Jessica is taking this new role seriously—that of an empowered and transparent woman who inspires other women to embrace themselves for who they really are. How Oprah. How Marie Claire.
Speaking of Marie Claire magazine, Jessica is featured on their May issue, and it isn’t your usual glam cover. Jessica bares it all with no makeup and no Photoshop retouching. Although this whole au naturale photo shoot is no longer a new concept, I admire Jessica for doing it. It takes good self-esteem for celebrities to show how they really look—wrinkles, age spots, and all—to the public.
“I don’t have anything to prove anymore. What other people think of me is not my business,” she told Marie Claire.
After a few failed attempts to revamp her career, I believe Jessica’s new packaging will actually work. Good job, Joe!
