'Fair & Lovely' to Be Rebranded As 'Glow & Lovely'

The Indian arm of global consumer giant Unilever said on Thursday that it would rebrand its skin-lightening cream 'Fair & Lovely' as 'Glow & Lovely,' after experiencing criticism, that the label reflected derogatory perceptions of darker skin tones.

The change came a week after the manufacturer of Lipton Tea and Dove's soap revealed that it will remove terms like "fair," "fairness," "white," "clean" from its ads in a bid to step away from a common definition of attractiveness.

Its skin cream for men will be called 'Glow & Handsome,' said Hindustan Unilever, and the items with the latest brand name will arrive on the shelf in the next few months.

Its skin cream for men will be called ‘Glow & Handsome’, Hindustan Unilever said, and the products with the new brand name will appear on shelves over the next few months.

Skin-whitening creams have a massive demand in South Asia, but the way their manufacturers sell the goods is being challenged at a period of global racial inequality following weeks of demonstrations triggered by the May death of George Floyd, a Black man, in police custody in the United States.

HUL 's decision last week to remove the term "natural" from its "sweet & lovely" items was deemed notable, as it came after years of demands to remove the name or quit selling the creams that rule the skin-lighting cream sector in India and were endorsed by Bollywood celebrities as well as other youth icons.

Garnier maker L’oreal earlier this week said it too would gradually replace “white” or “fair” with “glow” or “even” for some products designed to help even out skin tones, while Johnson & Johnson said it would stop selling skin-whitening creams altogether.