Following decades of pervasive advertising promoting the power of lighter skin, a re-branding is hitting shelves globally. But it's unlikely that fresh marketing by the world's biggest brands in beauty will reverse deeply rooted prejudices around “colourism,” the idea that fair skin is better than dark skin. Activists around the world have long sought to counter Unilever's aggressive marketing of Fair & Lovely, with the brand's advertisements criticized by women's groups from Egypt to Malaysia. Kavitha Emmanuel founded the “Dark is Beautiful” campaign in India more than a decade ago to counter perceptions that lighter skin is more beautiful than naturally darker skin. She said multinational companies like Unilever did not initiate skin tone bias, but have capitalized on it.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 26, 2020 08:37 UTC