Hindustan Unilever to drop `Fair` from flagship brand `Fair & Lovely`

The Fair and Lovely brand has been criticized by some sections for promoting fairness as a symbol of beauty in an Indian milieu where diversity of skin tones is prevalent.

New Delhi: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) in its bid to rebrand its flagship brand Fair & Lovely will stop using the word `Fair` in product, the company said on Thursday.

“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’,” HUL said in a release.

The new name is awaiting regulatory approvals and HUL expects to change the name in the next few months. The brand is committed to celebrating all skin tones.

HUL said that over the last decade, Fair & Lovely’s advertising has evolved to communicate a message of women’s empowerment.

“The brand’s vision is to adopt a holistic approach to beauty that cares for people, that must be inclusive and diverse - for everyone, everywhere. The brand is committed to celebrating all skin tones,” it added.

In early 2019, the brand’s communication moved away from the benefits of fairness, whitening and skin lightening, towards glow, even tone, skin clarity and radiance, which are holistic measures of healthy skin.

HUL 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.

The company said it will continue to evolve its advertising, to feature women of different skin tones, representative of the variety of beauty across India.

“We are making our skin care portfolio more inclusive and want to lead the celebration of a more diverse portrayal of beauty. In 2019, we removed the two faced cameo as well as the shade guides from the packaging of Fair & Lovely and the brand communication progressed from fairness to glow which is a more holistic and inclusive measure of healthy skin. These changes were very well received by our consumers. We now announce that we will remove the word ‘Fair’ from our brand name Fair & Lovely. The new name is awaiting regulatory approvals, and the pack with the revised name will be available in the market in the next few months,” Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director, HUL said.