Unilever to drop fair’ from ‘lovely’ in its racially positioned skin-lightening cream
Following the global backlash of Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement occasioned by the death of George Floyd, the Indian arm of Unilever, the British-Dutch multinational company, has decided to drop ‘fair’ from the name skin-lightening cream called ‘Fair and Lovely’. Unilever PLC said it would change the name of controversial skin-lightening cream, one of its top-selling personal-care brands, amid mounting criticism that it suggests light skin is more attractive than dark.
Unilever, in a tweet, said: “We’re committed to a skincare portfolio that’s inclusive of all skin tones, celebrating the diversity of beauty. That’s why we’re removing the words ‘fairness’, ‘whitening’ & ‘lightening’ from products, and changing the Fair & Lovely brand name.”
Sunny Jain, the president of the company said: “We are fully committed to having a global portfolio of skincare brands that is inclusive and cares for all skin tones, celebrating greater diversity of beauty. We recognise that the use of the words ‘fair’, ‘white’ and ‘light’ suggest a singular ideal of beauty that we don’t think is right, and we want to address this.” Meanwhile, after removal of the taboo ‘fair’, the company is said to be focusing on words like ‘skin detox’, ‘skin rejuvenation,’ and ‘skin vitality’ during advertisement campaigns.
At the same time, Unilever has said that a new name for the product is awaiting Government clearance. Unilever owns a 67% stake in Hindustan Unilever, its India unit.
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