Decades of critique for promoting fairness as a symbol of beauty fell on deaf years; but finally in keeping with the mood of the world Hindustan Unilever (HUL) drops the word 'Fair from its flagship beauty brand 'Fair and Lovely.' The decision has found support across segments and groups in the country.
While netizens welcomed the move by the company to rebrand the cream, celebrities too took to social media to laud the love.
Shah Rukh Khan's daughter Suhana Khan, who herself has faced prejudice based on her skin colour, also hailed the move. She shared a post on her Instagram that reiterated the brand's announcement.
Suhana took to Instagram stories and wrote: “Hindustan Unilever announced that it would rebrand its skin-lightening cream 'Fair and Lovely' and drop the word 'Fair' from the product'. It has also committed that it will remove all suggestions that success is linked to skin tone or colour in its communication.”
Hindustan Unilever said its other skincare portfolio will also adopt a new holistic vision towards beauty that cares for everyone and celebrates all skin colours.
"Taking forward the brand's journey towards a more inclusive vision of beauty, the company will stop using the word 'Fair' in the brand name 'Fair & Lovely'. The new name is awaiting regulatory approvals and we expect to change the name in the next few months," Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) said in a statement.
The company also removed from Fair & Lovely's packaging, words such as 'fair/fairness', 'white/whitening', and 'light/lightening' that could indicate a fairness-led transformation. The cameo with two faces showing shade transformation, as well as the shade guides were removed from the packs. Hindustan Unilever said that it will continue to evolve its advertising, to feature women of different skin tones, representative of the variety of beauty across India.
