The Fair and Lovely brand had come under heavy fire for promoting fairness as a symbol of beauty in India where diversity of skin tones is prevalent.
The Indian arm of consumer goods company Unilever, Hindustan Unilever, announced on Thursday it will remove the word ‘fair’ from its skin-lightening cream Fair and Lovely. The announcement comes amid the #BlackLivesMatter picking up speed internationally and the product facing criticism for promoting the racial discrimination through its name.
In a press release issued by Hindustan Unilever, it said, “the next step in the evolution of its skin care portfolio to a more inclusive vision of beauty – which includes the removal of the words ‘fair/fairness’, ‘white/whitening’, and ‘light/lightening’ from its products’ packs and communication. As part of this decision, the Fair & Lovely brand name will be changed in the next few months.”
The company also said that the new name is awaiting regulatory approvals.
The Fair and Lovely brand had come under heavy fire for promoting fairness as a symbol of beauty in India where diversity of skin tones is prevalent.
The President of Beauty & Personal Care unit at Unilever, Sunny Jain, said, “We are fully committed to having a global portfolio of skin care 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. As we’re evolving the way that we communicate the skin benefits of our products that deliver radiant and even tone skin, it’s also important to change the language we use.”
This decision comes a week after American multinational Johnson and Johnson announced that it will be stopping the sale of two fairness products that are sold in India.
The fairness creams market in India was estimated to be worth nearly $450 million in 2019. Whereas the brand Fair and Lovely holds a 70% market share.
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