Fair & Lovely Case Study

This case study is about Fair & Lovely, a cosmetic product that lightens skin color. It is a famous creation of Hindustan Lever Ltd that is assumed to lighting skin and make it beautiful. However, to remain the number one best selling product in India, the company launched a series of ads to represent the product as a miracle invention that will help girls get a boy, a job and a happier life since they will be fairer. As a result, the company’s ads were judged as reinforcing tools of racism since they portray the fairer individuals better than the darker individuals because of the difference in their skin tones.

In addition, the fair & Lovely was also considered as an ineffective product by Indian’s dermatologists since it does not truly make the skin lighter. It only reaches the upper layers of the skin and therefore, it is unable to effect melanin production. As a result, the advertising campaign the HLL was using mislead the public and did not mentioned the no lasting effect of the product.

This marketing strategy the company has conducted is considered as unethical. the fact of promoting a product that is only mildly effective misinform customers about what the product can really achieve. Furthermore, the company advertised its product in a way that highlight the difference between social classes. They manipulated customers to make them believe that Fair& Lovely would make them accepted within a culture divided by social hierarchies. In addition, the ads the company used supported racism since they had as main message light girls have more chance to live happier than darker skinned girls.

The choice of such ads was the result of exploiting cultural norms and values of the Indian population. According to the case, whiter skin girls have been considered as more beautiful since many decades in that country. The company took advantage from this criteria to sell its products as well as to manipulate customers. Furthermore, They are making people feel worse about themselves while promoting a product to fix that. Therefore, this