I Repent.

Today is Ash Wednesday. For those who took Fat Tuesday seriously it is National Call In Sick day. For those who are a little more devout it is a day of repentance leading to 46 days of reflection before Easter. It is traditionally called the Lenten season. I did a little soul searching this morning. I asked myself what, in this advertising career that has lasted for more than 26 years, do I need to repent for doing?

The first one is easy. I worked on Wild Irish Rose. WIR is a low-end fortified wine. This category boasts wines that contain up to 20% alcohol by volume. They also usually contain , as did WIR, sugar, artificial color and flavor. They are generally used to cause drunkenness. Other category players are MD 20/20 (aka Mad Dog), and Night Train. I found out I was pretty good at marketing. Sales exceeded 2 million cases for the first time and kept going. I hated it. I felt I was part of the problem. I'm sorry I did it.

The second is, I wish I had spoken up more. Advertising is full of a lot of smart people. So smart they easily fall prey to bad traits like hubris and insensitivity. I wish I'd been brave enough to really confront some people that earlier in their careers may have had a chance to consider and change their ways. I didn't do it. They didn't change and our industry is worse for it.

There are more things I've done I'm not proud of. I'm not willing to share them publicly. Frankly, they are not your business and this isn't a confessional it's a blog. But there is one more thing.

I'm sorry I didn't make the decision earlier that I'm making now. From this point forward I pledge to be perfectly and painfully truthful with clients and staff...to call it like I truly see it. To do my best to create an environment in which I don't ever have to be ashamed I didn't say or do something that needed to be said or done.

Now I have to go. I have to tell a staffer what I really think about their...