The Hindustan Unilever (HUL,) on the 25th of June, decided to rename its skin care product, Fair & Lovely.
According to sources, HUL is dropping the word ‘Fair’ from the product named as Fair & Lovely.
The company launched the cosmetic fairness cream in 1975 and made a profit of nearly Rs. 3,000 crores. Though the company also sold products in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, India was the major market for the product.
The decision to do the same came after a recent protest over the death of George Floyd, an African American man in Minneapolis, the United States of America. He was killed by an American police officer on the 25th of May.
Social media platforms were flooded with posts under #blacklivesmatter. Protests were held all across the U.S.A., Indians also participated and raised their voices through social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Many companies manufacturing fairness products shaming dark skin were criticised.
Some of such companies are Shaadi.com, Hindustan Unilever and Johnson & Johnson.
Responding to this ongoing protest, Sanjiv Mehta, the Chairman of HUL, said the change of the name was in discussion since 2019 and is a coincidence to come at a time when people are protesting.
HUL even applied for a new trademark in the Trade Marks Registry in 2018 and 2019.
Mr. Mehta said, “The timing of the rebranding was “purely coincidental.”
Mr. Mehta said, “We always believe in social justice as an organisation. But this is something which we have been planning and we have done a huge amount of research on. These are not changes that you do immediately.”
On the application for a new trademark, the Spokesperson of HUL said, “Trademark protection is an important aspect for any brand and in this case, we had applied for several trademarks in 2018. Some of them have received registration, while some applications are pending. We may choose to register other brand names too. We want to manage the unveiling of the new brand name carefully because we want to make sure that the market isn’t filled with counterfeit products that are unsafe. We will not be able to confirm what the new name will be.”
Meanwhile, Emami is also mulling to drop the word “Fair” from their product, “Fair & Handsome.”
Stay tuned for further updates.
