Unilever drops ‘fair’ from ‘Fair & Lovely’ skin lightening cream

Unilever will drop the word “fair” from its Fair & Lovely skin lightening products, it said on Thursday, in the latest makeover of a brand in response to a global backlash against racial prejudice.

Skin lightening cosmetics have a huge market in South Asia, but their promotion is being questioned, especially in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Earlier this month, Johnson & Johnson said it would stop selling skin-whitening creams in Asia and the Middle East, while PepsiCo said it would change the name and brand image of its Aunt Jemima pancake mix and syrup.

Unilever’s Fair & Lovely brand dominates the market in South Asia. Similar products are also sold by L’Oreal and Procter & Gamble (P&G).

Bollywood celebrities

“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,” said Sunny Jain, president of Unilever’s beauty and personal care division.

In India, the biggest market for Fair & Lovely, fairness products have long been endorsed by leading Bollywood celebrities, as well as other youth icons.

Adverts have regularly featured two faces showing skin tone transformation, as well as shade guides to show “improvement”.

Unilever’s India unit, in which the company owns a 67 percent stake, said it had shifted from such marketing in 2019 and would continue to evolve it to feature women of different skin tones.

 Several users on Twitter applauded the move, though some said it was too little, too late.

“This is a big win, but it’s only the beginning,” Nina Davuluri, who in 2014 became the first Indian American to be crowned Miss America, told Reuters News Agency.

“While Unilever removing words such as ‘fair, white, & lightening,’ and changing the … brand name is a step towards inclusion, it’s only one piece of a much larger fight to end colorism.”

Davuluri on Tuesday wrote an open letter to Unilever CEO Alan Jope, urging him to stop production of the products.

The name change is subject to regulatory approvals, Unilever’s India unit, Hindustan Unilever, said. It declined to say what the new name would be.

Public records indicate Hindustan Unilever last week filed an application to trademark a logo for soaps, creams, shampoos and other products under the brand name Glow & Lovely.

In 2018, the company also registered trademarks to market skincare and haircare products under the brand names Even & Lovely, Always Lovely, Care & Lovely and I Am Lovely, among others.

Separately, a source at L’Oreal in India said the French company was also having discussions in view of the backlash.

L’Oreal India declined to comment. L’Oreal in France did not respond to an email seeking immediate comment.

P&G declined to comment.