Unilever Rebranding Popular Skin-Lightening Cream in India
Update: On July 2, Unilever announced that it had officially changed the name of the popular skin-lightening brand Fair & Lovely to “Glow & Lovely.” Though the original rebranding announcement was a step in the right direction, the official name change was met with some criticism online. Some users on social media criticized the brand for continuing to use a lighter-skinned woman as its model while others voiced their concerns about the new name not changing the fact that the product still promotes colorism.
The renamed products are set to hit stores in India in the coming months.
Original post: Unilever is officially rebranding Fair & Lovely, a popular Indian skin-care brand known for its skin-whitening cream. The consumer goods company, which is also behind brands like Dove, Vaseline, and Axe, announced on Thursday that it was dedicating itself to a “more inclusive vision of beauty.” Specifically, the brand will remove the words “fair,” “light,” and “white” from all of its product packaging and marketing, thus changing the name of Fair & Lovely.
Bleaching and whitening skin have long been the norm in Asia, perpetuating the dangerous and disturbing idea that lighter skin is more superior. But following the Black Lives Matters protests worldwide, companies across various industries have been forced to acknowledge their roles in marginalizing people of color, as well as actively work to be antiracist. Consumers have even started and circulated petitions demanding the discontinuation of the brand. As a result, in addition to changing its name, Fair & Lovely and Unilever have committed to evolving its advertising to be more representative of different types of beauty all over the world.
While Unilever has yet to share the brand’s new name, the company said in a statement that it will be unveiled within the next few months, once legal regulations are met in relevant countries. This announcement comes after Johnson & Johnson, the company behind Neutrogena and Clean & Clear, recently declared that it would discontinue the production of skin-lightening products.
