Yet ANOTHER Fairness Cream Product Enters The Market - This Is On Us.

Alien as it may seem to some of us, for most people in the country, the morning routine still involves the *newspaper* (cue shock). Now, imagine on a day such as this, that half the front page of the newspaper is smacked with an advertisement of the newest men’s fairness cream on the market. Yes, Torex’s U-B Fair has shoved Garnier, Fair & Lovely, and all the other oh-so-familiar giants of the ‘Fairness Cream’ world to the side, boldly entering the market of skin whitening products we have long allowed. As you can well imagine, there are more than a few things wrong with this situation, and a lot of them have to do with us.

For starters, the tagline. It reads, “World Is Not Fair But U-B Fair”. Because having white skin is the best shot you have at being treated fairly? The fact that this is actually the truth in our country, and something to be capitalized on is almost worse than the tagline itself. But the crown jewel still stands to be the line that says “Ab Star Dikhega”. At this, we were slightly dumbfounded. Is it that all ‘stars’ are fair and so now a man can finally look like one, or that dark people are simply invisible beyond a certain time of day and this cream will help you stay in people’s line of sight for a longer period of time? We hope to get some clarity on this matter.

Moreover, here’s a little history of the so-called ‘cosmetic’ product. Just last year, FDA commissioner Harshadeep Kamble told TOI that “”It is a drug and not a cosmetic product. It is not supposed to be sold without a prescription in supermarkets and chemist stores,” because it contains corticosteroids. “The women’s cream promoted as a face wash contains salicylic acid that can cause difficulty in breathing, dryness and even peeling of skin. Supervision while using them is imperative,” he added.

The real issue, however remains to be that brands such as U-B Fair are still making entries into this already saturated market. Which means, there’s obviously still more profit to be made, and more demand than ever. What does this go to show, if not that we are consuming more and more of these products, buying into the insecurity that whiter = more beautiful. By some estimates, the fairness cream industry in our country has been valued at over 3000 crores. As this article so aptly points out, its sheer volume “puts it in the league of such bread-and butter FMCG categories as soap and deodorant. A slew of Bollywood celebs such as Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra plug these products, riding on the massive advertising spends fairness creams command.” Though there’s a whole bunch who don’t as well, most famously, Kangana Ranaut.

What does this go to show other than that people really are open to the use of these products? That many of us, admittedly or not, are still buying these creams that promise to make everything from our face to our armpits translucent enough to look straight through to our veins. Ultimately, then, this market is our own creation, so to speak. The insecurity and complex driven industry is blatant as ever (read tagline above), and yet we allow it to feed our thoughts and drive our actions. It remains to be question whether there is an end to this vicious cycle. How much longer will these brands get away with making us feel like we are never good enough? The truth is, only we have the power to do that. The nameless, faceless, ‘Big Bad Corporations’ only have a finite amount of money. It’s a large amount of finite money but if they don’t see returns on that investment, if we simply stop allowing them to own our insecurities, that’s the only way this cycle reverses or breaks or ceases to exist.

Idealistic as that sounds, and unrealistic, it’s more possible now because we actually have the law on our side. Promising fairness is an outright violation of the Drug and Magic Remedies Act. Advertising about such cure or treatment too is not allowed under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. And it is punishable with up to 2 years’ imprisonment. So if we’re going to fight to these issues, we’d better be willing to take the ammunition we have and use it.

The world isn’t fair at all, UB-Fair certainly got that much right. But when they’re done bottling up our insecurities and selling them to use as beautiful fragrances and magical creams, it seems pertinent to wonder what they’ll go after next. Worse - what we’ll let them come at.

If you enjoyed this article, make sure you don’t miss this compilation of Bollywood actors who actually rejected endorsements of Fairness Cream Ads and turned down huge sums of money.

We’re also working on a story about what it’s like to grow up as a dark-skinned woman in India. If you, or someone you know, fits the bill, write to us at editor@homegrown.co.in with the subject line ‘BROWN GIRLS.’