Our society’s obsession with fair skin has ruined so many lives and broken the confidence of many young men and women. But, what is sadder is the fact that brands taking advantage of these insecurities and making money by selling us products.
Finally, after years of protesting against the regressive mentality of pulling down people because of skin color, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever shared that it will remove the word ‘Fair’ from its popular skincare brand ‘Fair & Lovely’.
22-year-old Chandana Hiran is one of the many people who raised her voice against the regressive advertisements which blatantly propagated fair is lovely & beautiful. To stand against the heartbreaking mentality, she started a Change.org petition against the brand.
Though there is no direct reference to her petition in the explanation Unilever gave while changing the name. But, she is one of those brave women, who have challenged the notion of beauty being about skin color.
In a News18 interview, the Hiran said,
“They tried to sell us the idea that ONLY Fair is ‘lovely’. I filed a petition against Fair & Lovely, demanding they change their narrative after years of regressive advertisements and branding in order to sell a whitening cream.”
In a matter of just two weeks, Hiran’s petition on Change.org had garnered nearly 15,000 signatures.
She further said:
“When so many Indian celebrities started to support the BLM movement in Western countries, people started to question the practice of colourism within as well,”
Chandana Hiran was over the moon with the company’s response and tweeted saying,
“I have goosebumps as I read this! Kudos to you @Unilever I”m so so so happy rn. And I thank you on behalf of over 10k people who signed my petition for this to happen.”
Hiran wrote on Twitter following the announcement.
“Let’s talk about how damn excited I am about the announcement. @Unilever made regarding dropping the “fair” out of #fairandlovely It’s such a bold & impressive move for such a huge brand to come forward & change its brand NAME. Let’s give credit to them where it’s due!,”
I have goosebumps as I read this! Kudos to you .@Unilever I’m so so so happy rn. And I thank you on behalf of over 10k people who signed my petition for this to happen – https://t.co/EW7RjBTk6r #Unreal #ThankYou #AllShadesAreLovely
— Chandana Hiran (@chandana_hiran) June 25, 2020
.@HUL_News pic.twitter.com/yhec0DJ2Hz
At IFORHER, we salute all the brave voices like Chandana Hiran who are standing against the regressive thought process and making this world a better, safer, and inclusive place.
