Unilever will drop the word ‘fair’ from its Fair & Lovely brand of skin lightening products which are popular in South Asia but have long been criticised for promoting negative stereotypes against people with darker skin.

Companies face a mounting backlash on social media in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“We are making our skin care portfolio more inclusive ...a more diverse portrayal of beauty,” Hindustan Unilever (HUL) chairman Sanjiv Mehta said in a separate statement.

“The new name is awaiting regulatory approvals and we expect to change it in the next few months,” HUL said in a statement but stopped short of disclosing the new name.

Hindustan Unilever has reportedly sought trademark registration for ‘Glow & Lovely’. The company had approached the Controller General of Patent Design and Trademark to get the new name registered on June 17, 2020. According to the portal www.ipindiaonline.gov.in, the application has been sent for further inspection.

As part of the rebranding, the company will also be announcing the new name for the ‘Fair & Lovely’ Foundation, set up in 2003 to offer scholarships to women to help them pursue their education.

“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,” Mehta said.

Products marketed for skin lightening have a huge market in South Asia because of a societal obsession with fairer skin tones, but those notions are being questioned more frequently as perceptions change.

Johnson & Johnson this month said it would stop selling skin-whitening creams which are popular in Asia and West Asia.

“We recognise that the use of the words ‘fair’, ‘white’ and ‘light’ suggest a singular ideal of beauty that we don’t think is right, and we want to address this,” Sunny Jain, president of Unilever’s beauty and personal care division, said.

Unilever’s ‘Fair & Lovely’ brand dominates the market in South Asia. Similar products are also sold by L’Oréal and Procter & Gamble.

Unilever owns a 67 per cent stake in HUL. The companies also sell the popular Dove and Knorr range of products.

In India, fairness products have long been endorsed by leading Bollywood celebrities.

Emami to evaluate

Emami is a market leader in the fairness cream section for men with its ‘Fair & Handsome’ — a Rs 200 crore brand.

It claims to have created the niche about 10 years back with the endorsement of none other than Shah Rukh Khan.

Mohan Goenka, director of Emami, said: “We will evaluate the matter and come back to you. Such decisions cannot be taken within hours (of HUL making announcement).”

“Fair & Handsome’ is positioned more as a sunscreen cream than a fairness cream,” he added.

A source at L’Oréal in India said the French cosmetics company was also having discussions in view of the backlash.