How Not to Stop Colorism: A Guide by Hindustan Unilever Limited

“Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Fairest of Them All?”

Centuries ago, a handful of people decided that to be deemed ‘beautiful’, one needs to be fair. And thus, began the journey of brands across the world, to tap on this insecurity and make millions of dollars out of it.

One Google search for ‘fairness products’ and you’d see thousands of skin lightening products claiming to give you the fairest of skin. No points for guessing that India is one of the most important markets for brands with such products. Our obsession with fairness knows no bounds, as Indian men and women have always shoved the thought of ‘fair is beautiful’ down their children’s’ throats.

Recently, however, following the death of George Floyd in the United States and the resultant ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement catching momentum across the globe, consumers and brands alike started coming to their senses. Or at least we thought they did.

While the world saw big and small brands standing in solidarity against racism and colorism, multinational conglomerates like Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, P&G, among others, received backlash like never before.

Johnson & Johnson came up with the decision to stop producing and selling their skin whitening products in Asia and the Middle East. But don’t feel victorious just yet!

Then came in the announcement by Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) deciding to ‘rebrand’ its products that claim to lighten the skin.

Wondering why the decision to rebrand only? Because HUL’s ‘Fair & Lovely’ cream is India’s most popular and oldest fairness cream, the annual revenue of which is estimated to be about Rs. 4000 crores. (Source: Money Control) Can’t expect a multinational to let go of so much revenue just like that now, can we?

That little tube of ‘Fair and Lovely’ that we all perhaps saw in our homes at least once, will now be called ‘Glow & Lovely’ which honestly, is a mockery of the whole issue of colorism. The ingredients and the overall purpose of the skin lightening cream remain the same with no improvement in the representation of deeper skin tones, whatsoever. Seems like the brand decided to dip its toes in the field of activism, but not just enough.

Will a mere rebranding of the product help clear the otherwise guilty conscience of the brands and improve their public image? Probably yes.

But will it make people realize the emotional trauma one is subjected to for not being ‘fair and lovely’? Not at all.

Colorism sadly is just going to be as prevalent as before in the country.

The need of the hour is to not just remove such products from the shelves but also to change how such brands communicate with their audiences. A change in representation by brand ambassadors who are comfortable in their skin is what perhaps might be a baby step in the right direction to stop colorism for once and for all.

Perhaps then Indians would stop searching for a ‘Gori ladki/ladka’ for their child’s marriage and realize that there truly is no color for beauty.