The obsession with fair skin is a hallmark of the Asian cosmetic industry –sometimes to the point of being called “racist”. To fight this problem, Banjara’s brand of skin cream has launched a campaign in India to fight the stigma that darker skin is socially undesirable.
Created by agency India/2, the 2:45 clip features a daughter criticized by her mother for playing out in the sun, who then offers her daughter a tube of skin-whitening cream worrying that her husband to be will not look kindly on dark skin.
The film, titled ‘Be Fair to your loved ones. STOP asking them to become FAIR’, launched two weeks ago in India’s southern markets and has racked up more than 2.5 million views since posting.
“We wanted to change the perception that fair skin does not mean beauty,” said Ramesh Vishwanathan, MD of Banjara’s. “A woman should feel gorgeous in her natural skin colour. The focus of skin products should be on healthy skin and not skin lightening. The highlight of this short film will be to educate people to get over their unhealthy obsession about fairness.”
The brand also supports a movement hashtagged: #proudofmycolour
Ad credits
Client: Banjara’s
Team: Ramesh Vishwanathan, Aparna Lakshmi, Arvind Jha, Manish Sinha, Prabahakar S, Krishna Mohan R
Agency: INDIA/2
Creative: INDIA/2
