Johnson & Johnson, L’Oréal and Unilever and many more brands change names and pull back skin-whitening products as the global backlash against racism continues.
In response to international anti-racism protests, some of the world’s biggest cosmetics brands have announced a rethink on controversial “whitening” products and advertising strategies that promote fair skin as a beauty ideal. Johnson & Johnson, Unilever and L’Oreal have enacted sweeping changes to their portfolios and presentation, after such products have come under renewed social pressure in the past couple of months.
Racial equality has come to the fore since major protest action broke out following the death of unarmed black man George Floyd in the United States as he was restrained by a white police officer. This spurred the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and in turn a wider international debate about race.
This has particular resonance on the cosmetics industry in Asia and the Middle East, where fair skin is often presented as more desirable, with manufacturers capitalising on this by manufacturing and marketing products – particularly to women – that claim to “whiten” skin tone. About 6,277 tonnes of such products were sold worldwide last year, according to Euromonitor International. This may be about to change, however, with the three aforementioned multinationals leading the way.
Johnson & Johnson has announced it will stop selling whitening creams altogether in Asia and the Middle East. Last month the company revealed it was to drop its Neutrogena Fine Fairness line, available in these markets. The company will no longer manufacture these products, nor ship any stock that has not yet been sent out. However, those which are already in stores may continue to appear on shelves.
“Conversations over the past few weeks highlighted that some product names or claims on our dark spot reducer products represent fairness or white as better than your own unique skin tone,” Johnson & Johnson said. “This was never our intention – healthy skin is beautiful skin.”
Unilever, meanwhile, claims its products are not intended to actually lighten skin colour – rather, they are aimed at achieving “radiant and even tone” – but nevertheless concedes its promotional messages have contained words that propagate the idea that paler skin is more desirable. Accordingly, the company has announced it will change the name of its Fair & Lovely line in the coming months, as part of its drive towards a more inclusive vision of beauty. Furthermore, it has pledged to remove words such as “fair/fairness”, “white/ whitening” and “light/lightening” from packaging and communications moving forward.
Sunny Jain, President Beauty & Personal Care, explains: “We are fully committed to having a global portfolio of skincare brands that is inclusive and cares for all skin tones, celebrating greater diversity of beauty. “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.
“As we’re evolving the way that we communicate the skin benefits of our products that deliver radiant and even tone, it’s also important to change the language we use. “We will also continue to evolve our advertising, to feature women of different skin tones, representative of the variety of beauty across India and other countries. We want Fair & Lovely to become a brand that celebrates glowing and radiant skin, regardless of skin tone.”
In a statement, Unilever said it “upholds principles that no association should be made between skin tone and a person’s achievement, potential or worth”. Similarly, L’Oreal will also remove such vocabulary from its products.
“The L’Oreal Group has decided to remove the words white/whitening, fair/fairness, light/lightening from all its skin products,” the French cosmetics giant said in a statement. Earlier this month, L’Oréal released a statement based on its famous slogan “Because you’re worth it”, saying: “Speaking out [about racism] is worth it.”