MAC Cosmetics funds documentary about trans issues
Two new films from MAC Cosmetics explore issues faced by trans people and celebrate Pride.
A PSA series has ben developed by the cosmetics giant called Trans102.
The series is created in conjunction with Refinery29.
A documentary is called More than T, which aired on Showtime last week, produced by MAC and the MAC AIDS Fund.
The projects were both led by Silas Howard, the first transgender director of Amazon’s series Transparent.
The founder of creative comms company Praytell, Andy Pray, said the agency was the “nerve centre for the whole thing,”
Nancy Mahon, the SVP for global corporate citizenship and sustainability at MAC’s parent company Estee Lauder, said: “As we’ve seen in the content space over the last couple years, brand-driven documentaries and films are becoming increasingly impactful ways for brands to use their microphone to champion causes that are meaningful to them.”
The content produced was meant as a follow-up to MAC’s 2014 ‘It’s Not Over’ documentary.
The documentary focussed on young millennials living with HIV.
Pray went on to say that the documentary is intended to be nuanced and isn’t meant to preach at the audience.
He said: “The audience is people like me… As an agency, the entry point was…we can educate in a way that’s thought-provoking, funny, and real without being finger-waggy.”
Trans102 has already been viewed nearly 2.3 million times and has been shared more than 30,000 times and engaged with more than 20,000 times.
“It’s pretty clear that an infomercial doesn’t fly,” Mahon continued.
“At MAC, we always ask ourselves, ‘What does MAC bring to the party? What’s missing?’ For us, it was a trans perspective.”
As well as the creative projects, the MAC AIDS Fund has given $1.3 million to fund trans organisations in the US.
The organisations funded work in housing, job readiness and health.
Check out a trailer for More than T below:
A 2015 makeup campaign from MAC hoped to celebrate difference and soul, using real people.
Caitlyn Jenner has raised $1.3 million for trans organisations last year through her partnership with MAC Cosmetics.
She previously released a shade of lipstick with the brand.
