Black lives matter fallout: Unilever to rebrand ‘Fair & Lovely’

Unilever Bangladesh Limited on Thursday announced the next step in the evolution of its skincare portfolio, with the rebranding of its flagship brand "Fair & Lovely".

Taking forward the brand's journey towards a more inclusive vision of beauty, the company will stop using the word "Fair" in the brand name "Fair & Lovely".

The new name for the brand is awaiting approvals and the company is expected to change the name in the next two months, said a press release.

"We are making our skincare portfolio more inclusive and want to lead the celebration of a more diverse portrayal of beauty. In 2019, we have progressed the brand communication from fairness to glow which is a more holistic and inclusive measure of healthy skin," said Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Unilever Bangladesh Kedar Lele.

"These changes were very well received by our consumers. We now announce that we will remove the word "Fair" from our brand name Fair & Lovely. The new name is awaiting, and the pack with the revised name will be available in the market in the next few months," Lele added.

Unilever Bangladesh stated that over the last decade, Fair & Lovely's advertising has evolved to communicate a message of women's empowerment; and the brand's vision is to adopt a holistic approach to beauty that cares for people, which must be inclusive and diverse - for everyone, everywhere. 

The brand is committed to celebrating all skin tones, the press release added.

Fair & Lovely has a combination of vitamin B3, B6, C & E, glycerine, UVA and UVB sunscreens and allantoin, which are known to improve skin health and protect the skin from external aggressors and environmental pollution.

The product works to improve skin barrier function, boost the skin's microbiome, improve skin firmness and smoothen skin texture to enhance radiance and glow holistically.

Unilever Bangladesh maintains that the brand has never been and is not a bleaching product.

In early 2019, the brand's communication moved away from the benefits of fairness, whitening and skin lightening, towards glow, even tone, skin clarity and radiance, which are holistic measures of healthy skin. The cameo with two faces showing shade transformation, as well as the shade guides were removed from almost all the packs.

The company said it will continue to evolve its advertising, to feature women of different skin tones, representative of the variety of beauty across Bangladesh.

In addition to the changes to Fair & Lovely, the rest of the company's skincare portfolio will also reflect the new vision of positive beauty.