Unilever to drop 'Fair' from name of skin lightening cream 'Fair & Lovely'

Guwahati: With the intention of promoting equality among all skin tones, the Indian arm of Unilever, the British-Dutch multinational company, has decided to drop 'fair' from the name skin-lightening cream called 'Fair and Lovely'.

This move comes after 'Fair & Lovely', which has received considerable backlash for perpetuating negative stereotypes regarding darker skin tones. For time immemorial, prominent personalities across the country have slammed the name of the product, claiming that it promotes negative stereotypes against dark-skinned people. This month, activists started petitions against the product's name on Change.Org, drawing thousands of signatures, including one by Nina Davuluri, who in 2014 became the first Indian American to be crowned Miss America.

Unilever, in a tweet, said, "We're committed to a skincare portfolio that's inclusive of all skin tones, celebrating the diversity of beauty. That's why we're removing the words 'fairness', 'whitening' & 'lightening' from products, and changing the Fair & Lovely brand name."

Sunny Jain, the president of the company said, "We are fully committed to having a global portfolio of skincare brands that is inclusive and cares for all skin tones, celebrating greater diversity of beauty. We recognize 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."

Meanwhile, after removal of the taboo 'fair', the company is said to be focussing on words like 'skin detox', 'skin rejuvenation,' and 'skin vitality' during advertisement campaigns.

At the same time, Unilever has said that a new name for the product os awaiting Government clearance. Unilever owns a 67% stake in Hindustan Unilever, its India unit. The companies also sell the popular Dove and Knorr range of products.

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