Meet the girl who made Fair & Lovely to drop ‘Fair’ from its name

Chandana Hiran fair and lovely campaign
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Shikha Chaurasia

Mumbai, June 27, 2020: Hindustan Unilever in a major rebranding initiative has decided to drop the word ‘Fair’ from their brand name. Coming under scrutiny due to the recent George Floyd murder incident in Minnesota which sparked protests to stop racism, many brands came to light for being racist or promoting racial advertising. One such brand was Fair & Lovely.

A 22-year-old girl from Mumbai, Chandana Hiran, was the backbone behind this movement of changing the name of the brand because it reflected racism. She had started a petition on Change.org and more than 10K people signed ‘Fair & Lovely, Be more inclusive in your products and show us that #AllShadesAreLovely’, which compelled the company to take this initiative. She thanked the brand later for accepting the change.

 

“Hello! It feels surreal as I read the articles buzzing in on how Fair & Lovely is to drop the “Fair” in its name and aim towards being more inclusive! It will be such a huge step in changing narratives that the brand has built over decades. It’s such a welcome move! And I can’t wait to see this turn into action!

 

Each and every one of you who has signed this petition has played a role in this historic event! This just proves that change comes when you have the courage to ask for it! I am so grateful to all you people who have supported me and this petition! It’s awesome that Fair & Lovely has decided to take action. However let’s keep the momentum of our petition going till the time they actually drop the name”, she wrote.

 

Hindustan Unilever has decided to redefine the brand and said they want a more diverse audience to feel comfortable. They want their brand to resonate with the needs of all types of people.

Chairman and Managing director of Hindustan Unilever Sanjiv Mehta said, “We have decided to adopt a more diversifying approach on the portrayal of beauty. We decided to remove the shade guide from the packages of Fair & Lovely and also decided to remove the cameo of the two faces in 2019. Our brand’s motto progressed slowly from fairness to glow which is more relatable and well received. We have now decided to remove the word ‘Fair’ from our brand name and change it. The new name is pending approval and soon the customers will receive new packages with a new name.”