Hindustan Unilever, the country's biggest consumer products firm, said it will rebrand its flagship skincare brand Fair & Lovely and will stop using ‘Fair’ in the product, amid continuing anti-racism protest and activism, triggered by police killing of an African-American George Floyd.
The brand has been marketed to lighten skin tone since its launch in 1975 and is by far the leader in the overall face cream segment. “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 cameo with two faces 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," said Sanjiv Mehta, chairman at HUL.
Last year, it had removed words such as fair/fairness, white/whitening, and light/lightening, from its packaging. HUL said 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. Last week, Johnson & Johnson, which sells Neutrogena Fine Fairness and Clear Fairness, said it would no longer sell certain products that are advertised as dark-spot reducers.