Unilever to drop 'fair' from 'fair and lovely' skin whitening cream

Picture used for representational purposes only

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) on Thursday said it will stop using the word ‘Fair' in its flagship brand ‘Fair & Lovely' as ‘the brand is committed to celebrating all skin tones'.

Taking forward the brand's journey towards a more inclusive vision of beauty, the company said it is committed to celebrating all skin tones and will also remove references to ‘whitening' or ‘lightening' from the products sold across Asia.

The new name is awaiting regulatory approvals and the pack with the revised name will be available in the market in the next few months.

The Fair and Lovely brand has been widely criticised for promoting fairness as a beauty symbol.

In a statement, the company said over the last decade, Fair & Lovely's advertising has evolved to send across a message of women's empowerment. The brand's vision is to adopt a holistic approach to beauty that cares for people, that must be inclusive and diverse - for everyone, everywhere.

Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director, HUL said, "We are making our skincare portfolio more inclusive and want to lead the celebration of a more diverse portrayal of beauty. In 2019, we removed the cameo with two faces as well as the shade guides from the packaging of Fair & Lovely and the brand communication progressed from fairness to glow which is a more holistic and inclusive measure of healthy skin. These changes were very well received by our consumers."

Earlier this week, Johnson and Johnson announced that it will exit the fairness cream category in India and the Middle East amid rising protests over gender discrimination and raging Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in the US. Recently, the online marriage website ‘Shaadi.com' removed the skin tone filter after facing criticism from users.

The HUL decision was welcomed by netizens, but several social media users also questioned the company that how the purpose of the product, which is a fairness cream, will change by removing a word.

Will renaming a ‘fairness cream' stop shadeism?

(With inputs from IANS)

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