Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), which is the Indian subsidiary of the UK based multinational company Unilever, has made a major announcement on Thursday in which it has stated that the company's pivotal brand 'Fair and Lovely' will be rebranded with the new name by removing the word 'Fair' from it, even as the product holds a major share in the Indian cosmetics industry. 

One of the leading brands in the country will be re-christened with the new name in the next few months. According to the reports, the announcement of the removal of the term 'Fair' from the skincare brand has come amid the prevalence of the global debate on the racial inequalities and Black Lives Matter movement as the recent treatments of Black people in the United States seeded the movement of advocating the change in the existing disparities. 

In the press release, the company said that the next step in the evolution of its skincare portfolio to a more inclusive vision of beauty includes the removal of the words 'fair/fairness', 'light/lightning', and 'white/whitening'. The company added that it is committed to a skincare portfolio that's inclusive of all skin tones, celebrating the diversity of beauty.

The company stated that it won't advertise products in these terms and it will remove it from the packs and communication and as part of the vision, the name of 'Fair and Lovely' brand will be changed with the new brand name in the next few months.

We’re committed to a skin care portfolio that's inclusive of all skin tones, celebrating the diversity of beauty. That’s why we’re removing the words ‘fairness’, ‘whitening’ & ‘lightening’ from products, and changing the Fair & Lovely brand name.https://t.co/W3tHn6dHqE

— Unilever #StaySafe (@Unilever) June 25, 2020

According to the reports, Fair and lovely is one of the important skincare products of the company that yields over $500 million annually and this particular skincare brand holds 50% to 70% of the share of the skin whitening market in India. On the other side, it has also earned criticisms that the brand promotes fairness as a symbol of beauty in India which has people of different skin colors. 

However, in its statement, the HUL stated that the advertisements of the company's brand have been communicating a message of women's empowerment and claimed that the brand is committed to celebrating all skin tones. The company further stated that the use of words 'fair', 'white', and 'light' would be a singular ideal of beauty and the company wants to fix this following which it was decided to remove such terms from the products marketed by the company.

The announcement from one of the major blue-chip companies has come a week after the US-based Johnson and Johnson announced that it would be suspending the sale of two fairness products that are sold in India -Clean and Clear Fairness Cream and Neutrogena Fine Fairness cream. 

According to the company, the new name for 'Fair and Lovely' brand is awaiting regulatory approvals and the packs with the new name will be dispatched to the markets in the next few months.