Hindustan Unilever Limited announced that the company renamed its popular skincare brand Fair & Lovely to “Glow & Lovely” and men’s version will be called ‘Glow & Handsome”.
The re-branding is said to be done in the wake of criticism the company received for its product promoting colorism (discrimination done on the basis of skin color, also known as shadeism).
The announcement comes as an attempt by the corporate to raid “the evolution of its skincare portfolio to a more inclusive vision of Positive Beauty.”
This fairness cream in India has been sold for decades, following criticism that the brand perpetuated harmful racial stereotyping.
Cosmetics brands are under the scanner over products that promote skin fairness amid growing voices against racial stereotyping. This has intensified in the wake of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement in the West.
The widely selling cream is additionally sold in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and other parts of Asia, and interestingly, also exported to other parts of the world, like the West, where it’s sold in Asian supermarkets.
Earlier, French cosmetics major L’Oreal Group said it’ll drop words like white, fair and lightweight from all its skincare products.
“Over subsequent few months, Glow & Lovely are going to be on the shelves and future innovations will deliver on this new proposition,” the corporate said in their official statement.