Cultural Norms, Fair & Lovely, and Advertising

CULTURAL NORMS, FAIR & LOVELY, AND ADVERTISING

Fair & lovely, a branded product of hindustam lever Ltd , is touted as a cosmetic that lightens skin color. On its web site, the company calls its product "the miracle worker", "proven to deliver one to three shades of change. "while tanning is the rage in western countries, skin lightening treatments are popular in Asia.

According to industry sources, the top selling skin lightening cream in India is Fair & Lovely from hindustanlever ltd followed by CavinKare's fairever brand. HLL's Fair and Lovely brand dominated the market with a 90 percent share until CavinKare Ltd (CKL) launched fairever. In just two years, the fairever brand gained a impressive 15 percent market share. HLL's share of market for the Fair & Lovely line generates about $60 million annually. The product sells for about 23 rupes ($0.29) for a 25 gram tube of cream.

The rapid growth of cavinKare's Fairever brand prompted HLL to increase its advertising effort and to launch a series of ads depicting a "fairer gril gets the boy theme". One advertisement featured a financiallny strapped father lamenting his fate saying"if only I had a son" while his dark-skinned daughter looks on, helpess and demoralized because she can't bear the financial responsibility of her family. Fast forward and plain jane has been tranformed into a gorgeous light sekinned woman through the use of a fairness cream, "fair & Lovely". Now clad in a mini skirt the woman is a successful flight attendant and can take her father to dine at a five star hotel. She's happy and so is her father.

In another ad, two attractive young women are sitting in a bed room, one has a boyfriend and, consequently is happy. The darker skinned woman, lacking a boyfriend is not happy. Her friend's advice. Use a bar of soap to wash away the dark skin that is keeping men from flocking to her.

HLL's series of ads provoked CavinKare Ltd. To counter with an that takes a dig at HLL's Fair and Lovely ad. CavinKare's ad has a father-daughter duo as the protagonists, with the father shown encouraging the daughter to be an achiever irrespective of her complexion. CavinKare maintained that the objective of its new commercial is not to take a dig at Fair & Lovely but to"reinforce Fairever;s positioning."

Skin color is a powerful theme In India, and much of Asia, where a ligher color represents a higher status. While americans and Europeans flock to tanning salins, many across asia seek ways to have "fair" complexions. Culturally, fair skin is associated with positive values that relate to class and beauty. One indian lady commented that when she was growing up, her mother fordable her to go outdoors. She was not trying to keep her daughter out of trouble but was trying to keep her skin from getting dark.

Brahmins, the priestly caste at the top of the social hierarchy, are considered fair because they traditionally stayed inside, poring over books. The undercaste at the bottom of the ladder are regarded as the darkest people they customarily worked in the searing sun. ancient hindu scriptures and modern poetry eulogize women endowed with skin made of white marble.

Skin color is closely identified with caste and is laden with symbolism. Persue any of the "grooms" and "brides wanted" ads in newspapers or on the web that are used by families to arrange suitable alliances, and you will see that most potential grooms and their familie are looking for "fair" brides, some even are progressive enough to invite responses from women belonging to a different caste. These ads, hundreds of which appear in india's daily newspapers. Reflect attempts to solicit individuals with the appropriate religion, caste, regional ancestry, professional and educational qualitificatins, and frequently, skin color. Even in the growing numbers of ads that announce z'caste no bar". The adjectives "fair" regularly precedes professional qualifications. I every day conversation, the ultimate compliment on someone's looks is to say someone is gora (fair). "I have no problem with people wanting to be lighter." Said a delhi beauty parlor owner, saroj Nath. "its doesn't make you racist, any more than trying to make yourself look younger makes you ageist."

Bollywood glorifies conventions on beauty by always casting a fair skinned actress in the role of hemine, surrounded by the darkest extras. Women want to use whiteners because it is "aspirational, like losing weight."

Even the gods supposedly lament their dark complexion Krishma sings plaintively. A skin deficient in melanin ( the pigment that determines the skin's brown color is an ancient predilection. More than 3500 years ago, charaka, the famous sage, wrote about herbs that could help make the skin fair.

Indian dermatologist maintain that fairness product can not truly work as they reach only the upper layers of the skin so do not affect melanin production. Nevertheless, for some fair & lovely is a "miracle worker". A user gushes that "the last time I went to my parents" home. I got compliments on my fair skin from everyone. For others, there is only dissapoinment. One 26-year old working woman has been regular user for the past eight years but to no avail. "I should turn into snow white by now but my skin still the same weatish color. As an owner of a public relations firm commented. "my maid has ben using fair & Lovely for years and I still can not see her in the dark. But she goes on using it. Hope springs eternal. I suppose"

The number of Indians who think lighter skin is more beautiful may be shrinking. Sumit isralni, a 22 years old hair designer in his father's salon, thinks things have changed in the last two years, at least in india's most cosmopolitan cities, delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. Woman now " prefer their own complexion, their natural way" isralni says " he prefers a more "indian beauty" himself. "I will not judge my wife on how fair her complexion is. "sunita gupta, a beautician in the same salon, is more critical. "it is just foolishness!" she exclaimed. The premise of the ads that woman could not become airline attendants if they are dark-skinnes was wrong, she said "nowdays people like black beauty". It is a truism that women, especially in the tropics, desire to be a shade fairer, no matter what their skin color. Yet, unlike the approach used in india, advertisements elsewhere ussuallmy show how to use the product and how it works.

Commeting on the cultural bias toward fair skin, one critic states, "there