Dear Fair n Lovely,
I had the chance to see your latest advert. Firstly, kudos for
moving away from the “Rs.5 Crore” challenge, because it wasn’t just a recipe
for disaster,the whole idea also seemed thoughtless. Also, how did you zero in
on Yami Gautam as your brand ambassador? She is stunning and is one of the few,
very few good decisions you have made.
Moving on, the new ad. Let me run it down for you. It starts
with a dad-daughter pair finishing their morning run and the dad throwing the
dreaded “Shaadi karlo beta” question (The daughter/main protagonist is dusky / brown).
You guys finally decided to move out of that fairytalesque lab, which appears
so bright and white that it might have gobbled up a month’s supply of Fair and
Lovely, for all one knows. Good change that. The daughter throws the clichéd “But, I want to work, make a living”
retort, dad goes on a “The guy I have found for you has all that” riposte. Daughter sulks and goes
to meet her fairer than an “Irish on a gloomy, snowy winter day” friend, who
else but Yami Gautam.
Yami does what she does best, plays the Fair and Lovely Card
with that quirky smirk, and asks her friend to accept her dad’s proposal &
marry. Then, we have the “La laa laa la laaaaaaa” background music, as the
daughter walks with an unbelievable confidence and strut in her walk. The
daughter is now looking like she underwent a "Vanilla Ice Cream & Snow
concoct" facial, the radiance is unreal. She tells her father that she is ready for
marriage, but after 3 years, when she is as successful as her would-be husband.
The father is awed by his daughter’s new found confidence and is rendered
speechless, her mother gives a wry smile, and the daughter walks back, beaming, midst
the “la laaa la laaa laa” BGM.
Whew. You guys seem to have put some serious thought into
it. Now, let me not play the Racist card. I believe you have had to face quite
a bit of that backlash, and I have myself made a sly racist comment earlier in
this letter. So, better I stay away from it. I understand that yours is a fairness cream, and you need to propagate
the idea of fairness as a plus through your ads. I understand that you cater to
the Indian Market, which has an unhealthy fetish with fair skin. Nevertheless, what
I don’t understand or like is, why you need to do so at the behest of the “Not
so Fair” people.
It is okay to show a fair skinned person as confident, brave
and outspoken. It is not okay to show a dusky person as under-confident and
easily flappable. It is okay to show a fair-skinned woman as the most sought
after chick in college/office. It is not okay to show a dark-skinned woman being
ridiculed by guys because of her skin colour. It is okay to show a fair skinned
woman making a guy fall heads over heels on first sight, and get on his knees
straightaway. It is not okay to show a dusky-skinned woman being asked by her
friend to use a fairness cream, and get fair in order to get the guy of her
dreams.
I get it that, this particular stereotype has always existed in
the consumer’s minds, and it is not something that you guys created. But wouldn’t
it be better that as a socially conscious brand (as evident from your Fair and
Lovely Foundation initiative), you work towards eliminating stereotypes and not
acknowledging and leeching on it? Food for thought, maybe.
I know enough people who aren’t exactly what you would call
fair, but are amazingly lovely and confident folks. And they most certainly
aren’t from the “Fair Skin equals beauty, success and confidence” school of
thought. So, It would be really nice if you give your ad guys a bit of a jostle
and ask them to come up with something better and less stereotypical. You guys need
to be a bit “fair” now, don’t you?
Cheers,
Me
P.S – Yami Gautham is awesome. Please don’t change her.
