Case Study Fair and Lovely

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Case Summary This is a case about the popular personal care brand Fair & Lovely. This Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) skin-care brand for ‘Aspiring’ segment was launched in India in 1978. The brand promises the benefit of ‘making complexion fairer over a period of four weeks’. The target segment for the brand was middle class Indian women who want fairer skin. The message was conveyed in ads where women using the brand become fairer and get ahead in life by attracting men and jobs. The company was later sued by All India Women’s Democratic Association (AIDWA) who claimed that the ads were racist, promoted male preference, and insulted the intelligence of women declaring that they are only able to obtain jobs by being beautiful. HLL, after it being declared that their campaigns were racist and legally advised not to broadcast those controversial advertisements, launched campaigns to empower women and provide resources for intelligent women to a “fairer” future and thus created a Fair and Lovely foundation. The company later promoted their products by reworking their ads. The reworked ads conveyed the messages of having light skin to enhance your self confidence and attract a better groom and having men beg for attention. The Fair and Lovely case raises a number of controversial issues about international marketing when foreign cultural norms clash. It raised the interesting social problem of "colorism" or discrimination based on color, which was brought recently when Senator Harry Reid was quoted as saying that Barack Obama was in part electable because he was light-skinned. The case also raised the problem of gender discrimination to some extent. Of late, the range of the products under the brand was extended to include: Ayurvedic Fairness cream, Anti-Marks cream, Oil control Fairness Gel Cream for Deep Skin, Fairness Soap and also men’s range: ‘Fair &
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