Fairness cream ads can't show dark skin as unattractive: ASCI

Fairness cream makers have welcomed the new rules by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) on not projecting dark skin as unattractive.

The advertising regulator released final guidelines for fairness creams, saying these would go a long way in ensuring ads do not discriminate against people with dark skin.

"These ads should not reinforce negative social stereotyping on the basis of skin colour. Specifically, advertising should not directly or implicitly show people with darker skin in a way which is widely seen as unattractive, unhappy, depressed or concerned. This is particularly in relation to the opposite sex, matrimony, job placement, promotion and other prospects.," the ASCI said.

A spokesperson for Hindustan Unilever, leader in the Rs 3,000 crore fairness cream industry with Fair & Lovely, said, "We welcome the guidelines notified by the ASCI. They were framed by the body in consultation with industry, including member companies such as Hindustan Unilever. We are fully committed to these guidelines. We will comply with all the guidelines of the ASCI as we have always done."

A Garnier spokesperson said, "We strongly believe advertising should not encourage social discrimination of people based on aspects like the colour of their skin. All Garnier communication focuses on the efficacy of the product and is most importantly, backed by scientific fact. Our conviction is that there is no single model for beauty, the appearance and physical features of each person are unique. We are dedicated to understanding and serving those differences with the diversity of our products."

Mohan Goenka, director, Emami, when contacted, said, "We welcome the new advertising guidelines of the ASCI for the skin whitening products category which addresses the concerns raised by various quarters, including industry, society and consumers at large. The aim of an advertiser should be to ensure that viewers are not misguided about the efficacy of any product or promote discrimination of any sort, without compromising the creative licence to portray product attributes. We believe that the consumer is the king and it should finally be their choice to use any product that is advertised."

The regulations are critical because this is the first time that the ASCI has attempted to go beyond its traditional role of monitoring execution of ads to addressing mindsets, say persons in the know. Fairness creams have been blamed time and again for reinforcing the notion that fair is beautiful.

Shweta Purandare, secretary-general, ASCI, in a conversation with Business Standard earlier, had said, "There was a feeling in a section of society that ads pertaining to fairness products derided people with dark coloured skin. Therefore, there was a need to provide guidelines so that both creators and evaluators of such ads are clear on what would be considered deriding colour of the skin." 

While ad experts also welcomed the move, some of them said that it was unfair to target fairness creams alone. "Stereotypes exist in all product categories. Almost all content we consume has some stereotyping or the other. Is it right then to target fairness creams?," asked K V Sridhar, chief creative officer of digital agency SapientNitro, who earlier worked with agencies such as Lowe Lintas that does advertising for Hindustan Unilever's Fair & Lovely. 

"Advertising comes from observation and consumer insight. It is rooted in reality. To therefore come up with guidelines pertaining to advertising of these products would be incorrect in my view. You can at best influence social norms, I don't think you can change them," he added.