INDEPENDENT UNIVERSITY BANGLADESH

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING 401

FACULTY: SM Yusuf Mallik Sir

NAME: Mmonjur Morshed Rahat

ID : 1720215

SECTION : 2
Abstract

The fairness cream market is flourishing in India, a country that represents a unique
amalgamation of social, religious, and cultural stigmas and stereotypes. For the last three
decades, consumer goods giant Unilever/Hindustan Lever (HLL) has successfully leveraged
business opportunities inherent in India's obsession with lighter skin tones with the launch of
Fair & Lovely, considered to be the leading fairness cream in the Indian subcontinent. The
goal of this paper is to take a closer look at the issues related to skin color in India by
analysing how Fair & Lovely skin-whitening cream is situated in the context of Indian
culture, is fetishized through media, and is distributed to consumers. "Marwari Kshatriya,
fair, handsome, April '76 born, 5'4"/65kg, well educated, owns gold business. Seeks
proposals from fair, educated Marwari girl." "Sunni Muslim groom wanted for a pretty, very
fair, slim, 32-year-old daughter of social worker and educationist." "Telegu Brahmin parents
settled in Australia looking for alliances for their beautiful, fair daughter, 25 years, 5' 4",
acquired double degrees in Australia, UK and USA." "I am a 36-year-old man looking for an
ideal Indian wife. She must be beautiful, fair skinned, well mannered and respectful of my
aging parents." —Taken from an assortment of popular online Indian matrimonial websites,
browsed in 2008. The fairness cream market is flourishing in India, a country that represents
a unique amalgamation of social, religious, and cultural stigmas and stereotypes. The above
matrimonial advertisements, only a few examples of the thousands that appear in India's
leading national daily newspapers, demonstrate that the notion of "fair is beautiful" is deeply
rooted in Indian culture. In fact, its origins can be traced back well before the British colonial
days to the advent of the caste system, wherein the priestly Brahmin class was associated
with whiteness or purity and the inferior Shudras and Dalits ("Untouchables") with blackness
or filth. In stark contrast to India's current image as an emerging global superpower exists a
society that remains fixated by a fairness frenzy, fuelled further by factors such as Bollywood
(the Indian film industry) and advertisements for creams that promise to lighten the skin.
Three decades ago, consumer goods giant Unilever/Hindustan Lever (HLL) successfully
leveraged business opportunities inherent in India's obsession with lighter skin tones with the
launch of Fair & Lovely, considered to be the leading fairness cream in the Indian
subcontinent. The goal of this paper is to take a closer look at the issues related to skin color
in India by analysing how Fair & Lovely skin-whitening cream is situated in the context of
Indian culture, is fetishized through media, and is distributed to consumers.
1. Is it ethical to sell a product that is, at best, only mildly effective? Discuss.

No,it is not ethical to sell a product that is only mildly effective at best. Number 1 consumers
want to buy a product that is only showing minimal changes as result. For example, a lot Indian
women are happy because you they can see the change, however, there is this “one 26-year-old
working woman has been a regular user for the past eight years but to no avail.” And this woman
may not be alone in this.
First, when a company behaves ethically, customers develop a more positive attitude about the
caregiver, its products, and its services. When the marketing practices deviate from the accepted
standards of the Society Consumers, the marketing process becomes less efficient. Sometimes it
becomes easier. Second, due to policy objections, firms are frequently under pressure (social or
government) to be held accountable for their activities. As a result, consumer interest groups,
professional companies, and self-regulatory groups have considerable influence over marketing.
Calls for social responsibility also put marketing practices into broad federal and state regulations
designed to protect consumer rights or encourage commerce different There are issues related to
various marketing practices but products that are lightweight should not be issued in principle.
The product can be lightly effective for consumers and if the customers are not interested in
buying it then it is okay for them. However for less effective products, sales in the market are
not ethics correct. Fair & Lovely is a product that can be mildly effective, as it is used externally
for beautification. If no one uses it, that person will not die, because it is not a life-saving product.
It is used for radiant skin that can be of benefit to anyone or a desire to be a tosomone. There is
no law that simply sells in principle to save the life of a viable product. So if one wants to sell a
product that is mildly effective, it should not be recognized as immoral. People can do different
businesses. Just making a lightly effective business immoral is a complete injustice to that
business

2. Is it ethical to exploit cultural norms and values to promote a product? Discuss

The use of cultural norms to promote a product is unethical subject to a certain level of sensitivity
to cultural issues. Using one culture for advertising purposes may be offensive to other cultures.
In certain cultures certain ingredients are administered with a certain level of sensitivity. The
AWHL accused Fair and Lovely of destroying Indian cultural practices. Using cultural practices
to promote the company's products is seen as a dishonorable and unacceptable law

In the case if person chooses the first variant, he could easily understand that it is not ethical to
exploit various cultural norms and values in order to promote a product. If every company
concentrates only on profit and forgets about other aims, it could destroy positive social relations
(Fraedrich, 2014). The death of the culture and values in the mind of common people could lead
to cruel military conflicts or significant economic downturn
Therefore, it is essential for thinking people to cooperate and prevent the world from such a
threat. Every consumer should have the possibility to complain about some company, and
national government or international organizations must analyze the results of such complaints.
As a result, some special executive bodies have to restrict marketing activities for the companies,
who break the rules of the productive social life. Obviously, money profit seems not to be a sense
of life for all the population of our plane.

3. Is the advertising of Fair & Lovely demeaning to women, or is it promoting the

fairness cream in a way not too dissimilar from how most cosmetics are promoted ?

Ads by Fair and Lovely are respectful to women. It is a part of their nature that makes other
women seem successful or advanced simply because of their skin color or fairness. The ads
define the beautiful woman who has blond skin. According to the ads, dark women are not
beautiful. In the case study no woman was able to get a husband or a good job until she started
using the product.

It clearly shows how disrespectful the ads are to women. The fact that the company has classified
women according to their caste is racism. Racism discriminates against a person based on the
color of his or her skin. The ad clearly tells a female consumer that she will not be successful if
her skin is not flaky. In India, it is beyond discrimination and racism as women do not enjoy the
same rights as men.

Advertising causes more harm than good. Stereotypes created by ads are inevitable. Advertising
relies heavily on stereotyping to promote content. Many beauty product advertising stereotype
women. Big brands like Niva and Fa have succeeded in stereotyping to give their customers a
feeling of inclusion. They advertise a specific trendy product to attract young people or use
expensive luxury ads to entice the rich.

4. Will HLL’s Fair & Lovely Foundation be enough to counter charges made by
AIDWA? Discuss.

HUL's Fair and Lovely Foundation will not face charges levied by AW. The company has
stopped promoting two of its advertisements, which the AWA deems discriminatory. HLU's Fair
and Lovely Foundation has also taken initiatives to empower women. This initiative focuses on
creating awareness for women.
It helps by providing them with education and various business resources. The initiative helps
women across India empower them with skills that will benefit them. The campaign took place
in more than 20 cities across India.
 5. In light of AIDWA’s charges, how would you suggest Fair & Lovely promote its
product? Discuss. Would your response be different if Fairever continued to use
“fairness” as a theme of its promotion? Discuss.

The allegations leveled by the AWA stated that the ads were discriminatory. The ads implied that
women with blond skin were more successful and better than dark women. The second charge was
the tendency for advertising to promote choice. In India, women do not share the same
opportunities as men. The ad encouraged this kind of discrimination where a father wished he had
a boy just because of his daughter's darkened skin.

According to the AWWA, the ad was making the situation worse. The third complaint was that the
ads were insulting to 'working women'. In India, society is embedded in the concept of fairness. It
dates back to their ancient cultures, and even some of the gods' scriptures give priority to
justification. Popular Bollywood movies have the foreskin skin to get good character from the main
characters.

The ads by HL's Fair and Lovely seem to promote discrimination, and rather than focus on the race
and ethnicity of Fair and Lovely, advertisements should be made using popular trends and fashion.
In order to prevent their discrimination, equality between men and women should be promoted in
the society. The Fair and Lovely Foundation should promote and empower women in India by
providing resources for education and business. A 'working woman' should look at this trend rather
than make it difficult to pursue her preferred career.

Using justification as their slogan, 'effective' propaganda is still wrong. The cultural practices and
values of the organization should be respected. It is wrong to use culture negatively to promote
products. In order to gain the respect of the community, the organization needs to be sensitive to
the culture.

6. Propose a promotion/marketing program that will counter all the arguments and
charges against Fair & Lovely and be an effective program.

A market research first needs to be done to identify HUL's Fair and Lovely market and its
customers. They should focus more on increasing the product as per the needs of their customers.
They can also collaborate with other retailers in different regions. This will boost sales, as
consumers are more likely to buy products from local retailers. This practice helps to promote the
product more popularly.
 They can promote with advertising and with discounts on customers They can divide the market
into segments for price by market segmentation. This ensures that most sales are ready for most
market segments. Get a new customer so they can give a free sample of potential customers. This
facilitates consumer testing time, increasing the likelihood that they will buy the product

7. Now that a male market for fairness cream exists, is the strength of AIDWA’s
argument weakened?

The Fair & Lovely ad promotes that using their product makes skin look better and that women who
use it can get a fair complexion and achieve success in life.
According to The Advertising, women who are not fair are burdened by their families.
These ads directly promote racism and create an idea that fair women earn good jobs, spouses, and
higher standards in society.
On the other hand, many other cosmetic companies promote their products in the same way as the
special care spot out cream at Garnier in Pannil, Gondia.
In all, the Fairness companies, who advertise similar, are left with other meanings that are racist, sexist
and completely harmful to society, not just individuals.