Consumer giant Unilever announced it will rebrand its bestselling skin-lightening cream, Fair & Lovely, by dropping the word “fair” from its name. It will also remove words such as “fair/fairness,” “white/whitening” and “light/lightening” from its branding and packaging. Unilever and its Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Unilever, have faced backlash for promoting colorism, or discrimination against people with darker skin tones. Mumbai-based documentarian Richa Sanwal has been familiar with the Fair & Lovely cream — and colorism — since she was a child growing up in India.
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