New Delhi: FMCG major Hindustan Unilever on Thursday said it will remove the word 'Fair' from its popular skin care brand 'Fair & Lovely', as part of a rebranding exercise in the wake of growing voices against racial stereotypes.
The company said its other skincare portfolio will also adopt a new holistic vision towards beauty that cares for everyone and celebrates all skin colours.
"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 is awaiting regulatory approvals and we expect to change the name in the next few months,” Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) said in a statement.
As part of the rebranding, the company will also be announcing the new name for the 'Fair & Lovely' Foundation, set up in 2003 to offer scholarships to women to help them pursue their education.
HUL Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Mehta said that “in addition to the changes to Fair & Lovely, the rest of HUL's skincare portfolio will also reflect the new vision of positive beauty”.
“In 2019, we removed the cameo with two faces as well as the shade guides from the packaging of Fair & Lovely and the brand communication progressed from fairness to glow which is a more holistic and inclusive measure of healthy skin,” he added.
These changes were very well received by consumers, Mehta claimed.
The new name is awaiting regulatory approvals and the pack with the revised name will be available in the market in the next few months, he said.
The company said it will continue to evolve its advertising, to feature women of different skin tones, representative of the variety of beauty across India.
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The brand's vision is to adopt a holistic approach to beauty that cares for people, that must be inclusive and diverse - for everyone, everywhere. The brand is committed to celebrating all skin tones,” it said.
HUL's parent Unilever announced the next step in the evolution of its skincare portfolio to "a more inclusive vision of beauty - which includes the removal of the words ‘fair/fairness', ‘white/whitening', and ‘light/lightening' from its products' packs and communication.
As part of this decision, the Fair & Lovely brand name will be changed in the next few months."
Sunny Jain, President Beauty & Personal Care said “We have been working on the evolution of our Fair & Lovely brand, which is sold across Asia, progressively moving to a more inclusive vision of beauty that celebrates skin glow."
"We have changed the advertising, communication and – more recently – the packaging in South Asia, and we think it’s important that we now share the next step that we have been working on: changing the brand name."
"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,” adds Jain.
Several FMCG companies are concerned about their brands after 'Black Lives Matter' protests across the globe. Recently, the US healthcare and FMCG giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has stopped the sale of its skin-whitening creams globally, including India.
Skin-whitening creams is considered to be a big market in India in the personal care segment and several FMCG players, including Procter & Gamble, Garnier (L'Oréal), Emami and Himalaya operate in the segment with their respective products.
HUL seeks 'Glow & Lovely' trademark registration
'Glow & Lovely' might soon greet you from the shelves with Hindustan Unilever seeking trademark registration for the new name as the FMCG major has decided to drop the word 'Fair' from its popular fairness cream 'Fair & Lovely'.
While, HUL, a subsidiary of British-Dutch multinational company Unilever PLC, did not disclose the new name for its "Fair & Lovely", the company had approached the Controller General of Patent Design and Trademark to get the name ‘Glow & Lovely' registered on June 17, 2020.
According to the portal www.ipindiaonline.gov.in, the company's application has been sent for “Vienna Codification”.
Once an application is submitted before the trademark registry, it is sent for inspection done at various stages and figurative elements as a logo are sent for a trademark search to check for its distinctiveness, as per Vienna Agreement.
When contacted for comments, a HUL spokesman said trademark protection is an important aspect for any brand and in this case, the company has 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,” the spokesperson said.
HUL had earlier also applied under the same trademark name "Glow & Lovely” on September 7, 2018. It was, however, rejected.
For the “goods and service description” in its latest application, HUL stated that the intended use for "Glow & Lovely" would include soaps, oils, creams, lotions, beauty masks, facial packs etc.
It would also cover skin care preparations, shaving preparations, pre-shave and aftershave preparations, cologne, depilatory preparations, sun-tanning and sun protection preparations.
(With PTI Inputs)
