Spotlight shifts to fairness product market as Unilever rechristens its Fair & Lovely brand

Equating fairness with beauty has been an agelong practice in the Indian subcontinent and much of Asia, one which spawned an immensely booming market for skin lightening creams and perpetuated the myth further with their advertisements.

But a seismic shift appears to be on the horizon on the concept of fairness after the undisputed market leader in the category, Unilever, yesterday announced dropping the word 'Fair' from its iconic brand 'Fair & Lovely', which pitched itself as a safe alternative to skin bleaching products.

Launched in India in 1975 to cater to the South Asian preference for light skin that some researchers link back to the region's colonial legacy, Fair & Lovely today generates annual sales of more than $560 million, largely in countries such as India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Unilever's move comes a week after another personal care giant Johnson & Johnson announced taking down its skin lightening products under its Clean & Clear and Neutrogena brands, both of which can be found in the supermarket shelves and e-commerce sites in Bangladesh.

And the catalyst for the climbdown? It is the Black Lives Matter movement that is blazing across the US and others parts of the world, sparked off by the killing of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis last month in the hands of white law enforcement agents.

The protests, which are taking place disregarding the social distancing measures demanded by the raging coronavirus, made many re-evaluate their views on colourism and pile on the pressure on brands whose products are deemed to carry racist connotations.

And some companies are paying heed to the legitimate grievances, reassessing their businesses and marketing for signs of discrimination.

Last week, oral care major Colgate said it would review a top-selling Chinese brand called Darlie, whose name translates to mean 'black person toothpaste'.

American food and beverage giant PepsiCo Inc. said it is retiring the Aunt Jemima brand of syrups and pancake mixes, while Mars Inc. is changing the name of its Uncle Ben's rice.

In the Indian subcontinent, brands were yet to acknowledge the issue until Unilever's stunning announcement yesterday, which could also be viewed as a culmination of a years-long campaign on social media.

Since 2016, there has been a #unfairandlovely hashtag circulating on social media ripping apart the beauty stereotypes promoted by the brand.

But calls against the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant to take down the product grew louder in recent weeks, with scores of petitions popping up on the Change.org website and gaining traction, too.

Earlier on June 9, American celebrity host and cookbook author Padma Lakhsmi tweeted: "For years I've been saying that "Fair & Lovely" needs to pack their fake cosmetics and GO!! Anyone else out there sick and tired of being told that fair=lovely? Because I sure as hell am." The product did a number on her self-esteem as a young girl, she wrote.

The name change, which is now awaiting regulatory approvals and will be ushered in over the next few months, can be viewed as a redemption of sorts.

"We are making our skincare portfolio more inclusive and want to lead the celebration of a more diverse portrayal of beauty," said Kedar Lele, managing director and chief executive officer of Unilever Bangladesh, in a press release yesterday. 

In early 2019, the brand's communication moved away from the benefits of fairness, whitening and skin lightening, towards glow, even tone, skin clarity and radiance, which are holistic measures of healthy skin. 

The cameo with two faces showing shade transformation as well as the shade guides were removed from almost all the packs.

"These changes were very well received by our consumers," Lele said.

The company will continue to evolve its advertising, to feature women of different skin tones, representative of the variety of beauty across Bangladesh, the press release added.

Whether this would have any effect on the thriving market for fairness products in Bangladesh remains doubtful.

According to industry insiders, the products are mostly popular in rural areas, where females remain oblivious to the First-World social media discourse, according to industry insiders.

In Bangladesh, skin lightening products are imported from India, Turkey, Malaysia, China and Thailand.

Other than Fair & Lovely, products from Indian brands Emami and Himalaya, Proctor & Gamble, Nivea, The Body Shop and L'Oreal are popular, according to general managers of two supermarket stores.