To be Fair is to be Lovely...I'm seriously sick of this advert being aired on all TV channels that I watch.
Has anyone seen the Fair & Lovely ad that promises to make you "fair" therefore "lovely"!!!!
What the hell are we teaching this generation? That its bad to be dark skinned and that darker girls are not destined for success? Why hasn't anyone pointed that out?
Basically, the advert rests on the same scenario, a girl goes into a salon or something to sell her herbs, clearly looking for a job, but she's turned away by a snoty fair woman. Then her mom tells her to "show them" and gives her the magical Fair & Lovely, that promises to make her just that Fair and thus Lovely. She goes back to the same salon and a guy now looks at her "transformed and fair and lovely, of course" and sweeps her off her feet and she becomes a star!!!!
WHAT???????
...I was stunned to watch the whole charade...
What kind of a message are we sending young girls: if you're dark, forget it, don't even bother studying and trying to be a successful individual, well, just because you're dark!!! Dah!!! But if you're fair, you can be a bimbo, cause there will always be a man (a rich one at that) who will take care of you, so why bother being a successful individual? Why even bother trying?
Race & skin colors become markers that indicate superiority and privilege, and that's what's being reflected through these commercials.
I wonder how that advert would be viewed in the US or the UK? Or are Arab countries and other thrid world countries that they can sell this crap to?
Peace,
SoulSearch :(
11 comments:
this product used to be marketed to indian ladies who supposedly consider fairness a sign of beauty just like the tanning products were aimed at american/european markets. now we are getting both.
on the same topic, i hate two commercials aimed at women. the first is the one where the woman has cooked a great meal for her family and waits nervously to find out whether they approve, and actually says that they are (majlis idarty) (my board of directors) i mean how insulting is that??
and the second one is where the mother gives her daughter a non-painful hair remover, when the child looks young enough to be out playing swings or some other childhood fun thing without a care in the world, not worrying about her body hair. that one really bothers me no end!
what does that teach our girls? forget about fun, forget about achievements, forget about becoming somebody, you are destined for a life of looking pretty and cooking! bah!
I guess Can We Talk beat me to it. The standards of beauty are different wherever you go. Tanning products are huge abroad and the aesthetic of a brown goddess is what different cultures may perceive as desirable.
I hate fair and lovely. The message it sends to young girls is that you can only be pretty if you are fair and you are automatically pretty just cause you are fair. Now here does that leave a dark girl? She never measures up, do she? she can be pretty, sure, but despite her dark color not because of it. It works against her! How many times did you hear someone say how so and so isn't pretty coz she is dark or black? Like black and pretty can't go together....
With the tanning craze going on you think dark girls would be the it girls but sadly that isn't the case. You see, being naturally dark isn't good enough. You have to be fair with a tan brought on being fake products or by languishing your fair self for hours in the sun.
You thought "Fair & Lovely" was bad enough... guess what, there's another product released in the Indian market for men, and it's called: "Fair & Handsome". Same twisted logic, and same warped worldview... :(((
HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHA!
Amool I love this one really... I can imagine you fuming while you were typing. I totally agree with you. Serious ethical issue here...
Thank you for this post (no offense but it really made me laugh- good with all this pent-up stress).
xxx
Thanks everyone for stopping by and commenting. I had just seen that ad for the millionth time, and got sick, as they now have other versions of the same warped logic, God help our daughters, if these are the messages they get to watch, I find myself fumbling for the remote control, as if porn was on TV! not ads!!!
Thanks once again for your comments, its great to hear from you! :)
Peace,
SoulSearch
For some reason all women's product ads cater to the worst stereotypes-- uggghhhh now I'm annoyed too!
They basically play on your emotions and make you believe the lies that they propagate.
We need to open our minds and help our daughters to see that beauty is from within...
Peace,
SS
this is the same as sending the message to young girls that they have to be super thin to be attractive and that the only way you'll be anything in life, is to be that thin and look like a model.
did you see that dove thing where they showed how they transform a girl from normal into a model face by doing all sorts of computer graphics.
this is different i know, but along the same lines.
what gets me about this fair & lovely is that it doesn't work. they are playing on ppl's emotions and it sucks really.
i think it's sad that advertising agencies and companies go out of their way to make young ppl and adults feel like they're not good enough unless they have light skin... when in the states, all the girls want is to have a tan and have olive skin.
I haven't seen the commercial but I seen the products in the store. Sad to make such adverts.
Funny how different cultures value different skin tones. Where I'm from being pale or fair is seen as something unhealthy and not attractive. Me, being a pale person have always had my family and friends telling me to get some colour. It wasn't until I moved to Lebanon that people would give me compliments for my fair skin. When I go back home people are surprised to see that I live in such a sunny country I'm still not tanned. We have an unhealthy obsession in my country with tans.
Thanks for your comment Sous. It is sad the way women are led to believe the lies the corporate world has weaved for us in its infinite web!
Lets hope we wake up soon to see our inner beauty, which I believe is in every person!
Love,
SoulSearch...
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