Hindustan Unilever (HUL), the Indian arm of consumer goods company Unilever, said on Thursday it will remove the word ‘fair’ from its skin-lightening cream ‘Fair and Lovely’. The announcement comes following the global #BlackLivesMatter movement.
In a press release, Unilever announced “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 new name is awaiting regulatory approvals, the company said.
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The Fair and Lovely brand has been criticised for promoting fairness as a symbol of beauty in an Indian milieu where diversity of skin tones is prevalent.
Sunny Jain, President Beauty & Personal Care, Unilever, 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.”
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According to reports, the fairness creams market in India is estimated to be worth nearly â¹5,000 crore, and Fair and Lovely holds nearly 70% market share.
HUL's 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.
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