Glow & Lovely

Glow & Lovely (formerly Fair & Lovely) is an Indian skin-lightening cosmetic product of Hindustan Unilever introduced to the market in India in 1975. Glow & Lovely is available in India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Mauritius and other parts of Asia and is also exported to other parts of the world, such as the West, where it is sold in Asian supermarkets.

Unilever patented the brand Fair & Lovely in 1971, after the patenting of niacinamide, a melanin suppressor,[1] which is the cream's main active ingredient. Glow & Lovely's website states the product contains vitamins B3, C, and E, along with multivitamins and UVB/UVA sunscreens.

Glow & Lovely was controversial under its previous name "Fair & Lovely". The company has faced criticism for its marketing practices and has announced changes to advertising and packaging in South Asia to address concerns. The president of the company responded to concerns about the product calling for diverse representation, and has announced changes in advertising, communication and packaging in South Asia.

Advertisement issues and criticism

Glow & Lovely suffered controversy under its previous name "Fair & Lovely". Aggressive marketing campaigns in India are shown to use Bollywood celebrities to promote 'fair' as beautiful and 'dark' as ugly, leading critics to charge the firm with promoting colourism.[8] Fairness cream brand promotions in the Indian market use the same method of advertising, ridiculing a young girl for having dark skin and not doing enough to lighten it, pointing to the cream as the needed solution.[8]

Advertisements target middle to lower income groups of whom 20% to 30% buy skin lightening products over the counter, through friends, or online, without consulting a specialist.[9] Those who may not have a lot of income cannot opt to go for products that are expensive. Nor are they able to speak with specialists that may guide them in their skincare. So they opt to buy the first product they find, in this case 'Glow & Lovely.'

Marketing campaigns of the product have been criticized for promoting colorism.[10] Marketing for the product in all countries implies that whiter skin equates to beauty and self-confidence.[11] Hindustan Unilever Limited research claims that "90 per cent of Indian women want to use whiteners because it is aspirational, like losing weight. A fair skin is, like education, regarded as a social and economic step up."[12] Following this controversy, in a 2007 television advertisement for Ponds White Beauty,[13] actor Saif Ali Khan expressed preference for the fair-skinned Neha Dhupia over the darker-skinned Priyanka Chopra.[14] The company suspended television advertisements for the product.[15][16] [17]

Company response and rebranding

In 2020, the manufacturer responded to criticism associating the product with colorism. Sunny Jain, President Beauty & Personal Care stated the company recognizes that the use of the words 'fair', 'white' and 'light' is not ideal.[5] Jain also announced changes in advertising, communication and packaging in South Asia.[5] Glow & Lovely also announced in 2020, they plan to feature women of different skin tones, representative of the variety of beauty across India and other countries.

In 2020, Hindustan Unilever announced the rebranding of its flagship brand Fair & Lovely, removing the word 'Fair' and using 'Glow' instead.[18] The brand was renamed to 'Glow & Lovely'.[19]

At the time of the rebranding, Unilever stated that 'Fair & Lovely has never been, and is not, a skin bleaching product', instead it was intended to be a product which would 'improve skin barrier function, improve skin firmness, and smooth out skin texture'.

References

Miranda A. Farage, Kenneth W. Miller, Howard I. Maibach. Textbook of Aging Skin 540896554 (2009), p.498: "In a recent work, niacinamide and glucosamine (in particular, its derivative N-acetyl glucosamine [NAG]) have been determined to be effective in reducing melanin production in culture. In vitro, glucosamine reduces production of melanin."^

Jham, Vimi. Cases on Consumer-Centric Marketing Management (2013) 1466643587, p. 102: "The target consumer profile for Fair & Lovely is in the age group of 18 and above. The bulk of the users are in the age group of 21-35 and brand communication has always been targeted at this age group."^

Mike Peng. Global Strategy 0324590997 (2008), p. 414: "The target market for Fair & Lovely is predominantly young women aged 18–35 (Srisha, 2001). Disturbingly, "there is repeated evidence that schoolgirls in the 12–14 years category widely use fairness creams" (Ninan, 2003)."^

Alma M. Garcia. Contested Images: Women of Color in Popular Culture (2012) 0759119635, p. 182: "Through its Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Lever Limited, Unilever patented Fair & Lovely in 1971 following the patenting of niacinamide, a melanin suppressor, which is its main active ingredient. Test market David "Unilever to Rename Fair & Lovely Skin-Lightening Cream in India," Bloomberg (June 25, 2020).^

Unilever evolves skin care portfolio to embrace a more inclusive vision of beauty Unilever, retrieved 2023-01-19^

Glow & Lovely Careers Glow & Lovely Careers, retrieved 2023-02-04^

Samara Pollock, Susan Taylor, Oyetewa Oyerinde, Sabrina Nurmohamed, Ncoza Dlova, Rashmi Sarkar, Hassan Galadari, Mônica Manela-Azulay. The dark side of skin lightening: An international collaboration and review of a public health issue affecting dermatology International Journal of Women's Dermatology, 2020-09-17^

Amit Anand. Skin Colour Bias:Understanding the Intersection of Media Representation and Advertising Ethics in India Research Culture Society, 2021-06-30, retrieved 2023-01-19^

Siti Zulaikha Rusmadi, Sharifah Norkhadijah Syed Ismail, Sarva Mangala Praveena. Preliminary Study on the Skin Lightening Practice and Health Symptoms among Female Students in Malaysia Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2015^

Simra Mariam. Daring To Be Dark: Fighting Against Colorism In South Asian Cultures Huffington Post, 2017-03-27, retrieved 2019-01-06^

Lynne Eagle, Stephan Dahl. Marketing Ethics & Society (2015) 1473934028: "Advertisements in all the countries in which Fair & Lovely is sold show product users getting better jobs, getting married or having a brighter future (and being noticeably happier) as a result of their lighter skin."^

Aneel Karnani. Fighting Poverty Together: Rethinking Strategies 0230120237 (2011), p. 101: "Hindustan Unilever Limited, Unilever's Indian subsidiary, claims Fair & Lovely is doing good by fulfilling a social need. HUL research says that '90 per cent of Indian women want to use whiteners because it is aspirational, like losing weight. A fair skin is like education, regarded as a social and economic step up.'"^

Kabhi Kabhi Pyar Mein - Pond's White Beauty Vimeo, retrieved 2020-06-13^

Sidharth Balakrishna Case Studies in Marketing Pearson 2011, 8131757978 Case Study 1: Fair & Lovely p.5 "... responding to an advertisement in which the actor Saif Ali Khan prefers the fair-skinned starlet Neha Dhupia over Priyanka Chopra, known for her dusky, wheatish complexion."^

Kabhi Kabhi Pyar Mein - Pond's White Beauty Vimeo, retrieved 2020-06-13^

Bagchi, Shrabonti. "The dark politics of fairness products in India," LiveMint (25 Jun 2020).^

Jain, Rupam, Charlotte Greenfield, and Siddharth Cavale. "Unilever's 'Fair & Lovely' to get makeover after backlash," Reuters (JUNE 25, 2020).^

'Fair' To Be Axed From Hindustan Unilever Limited's Fair and Lovely odisha TV, retrieved Jun 25, 2020^

HUL Replaces Fair With Glow. People React With 'Glow & Lovely' Memes aTrendHub, 26 June 2020, retrieved Jun 26, 2020^

Unilever evolves skin care portfolio to embrace a more inclusive vision of beauty unilever.com, retrieved 10 March 2021^

Unilever Will Drop the Word 'Fair' From its Skin-Lightening Creams. Experts Say It Does Not Combat Colorism Time, retrieved 2023-02-04^

Jemima McEvoy. Critics Slam Unilever Rebrand Of 'Fair & Lovely' Skin Lightener As 'Glow & Lovely' Forbes, retrieved 2023-02-04^

title	Glow & Lovely
type	Cosmetic product
manufacturer	Hindustan Unilever
available	Yes
url	https://www.hul.co.in/brands/beauty-wellbeing/glow-lovely/
launch year	1975

Formula

Health concerns

Advertisement issues and criticism

Company response and rebranding

References

Critical response to rebranding

Market Share

Formula

Health concerns

Advertisement issues and criticism

Company response and rebranding

References

Critical response to rebranding