Fair And Lovely To Glow And Lovely

In 2020, the famous whitening cream's name was changed from Fair and Lovely to Glow and Lovely due to facing massive criticism as their advertisements perpetuated racial discrimination and colorism. For years and years, these advertisements have consistently been seen tying the woman's self-worth to merely her appearance and skin color.

Throughout the years, we see that such advertisements have contributed towards stereotyping women in terms of associating their growth with their appearance and specifically in this one where a compliment from her boss is seen to be glorified.

The usage of dialogues such as "Bilqul be-daagh" "chamakdaar", referring to natural skin discoloration as "dhabbe" and comparing a woman's skin to diamonds, sets manufactured beauty standards and contributing towards constant objectification and reducing them to a mere well-polished ornament.

After facing significant backlash, Fair and Lovely launched their anthem featuring women from all over Pakistan, successful in various fields, ensuring the representation of women of all colors. The advertisements feature personalities such as Pakistan woman's football team captain Hajra Khan and is an attempt to empower women to embrace their identity and enter into the world courageously in order to achieve all of their aspirations and goals, even if that means struggling against the odds.

The question arises that after demeaning women throughout these years to merely their skin color and a man's approval, have they finally "paved their way for revolutionizing beauty standards" through their rebranding? Can ideas about skin color that have been maintained and reinforced for centuries be altered by a name change?