FAIRNESS AND WOMEN: A STUDY OF FAIR & LOVELY ADVERTISEMENTS AND ITS IMPACT ON WOMEN

Abstract

For a long time now, Indian society has had an obsession over fair skin. This has contributed to a
tremendous demand for fairness creams and associated whitening products in the Indian cosmetics
industry. Television advertisements have always had a major role in introducing new products to the
masses. Research done over the years show us that Televisions ads has been the most effective way to
deliver any message to the people – be it an ideology or a product. This research attempts to study the
promotion of whitening creams through television advertisements and their impact on women users with
the case of ‘Fair and Lovely’ fairness creams. Data was collected through a survey with a questionnaire as
well as content analysis of Fair and Lovely advertisements before and after the Advertising Standards
Council of India (ASCI) released their final guidelines for skin lightening and fairness products
advertisements in 2014 were carried out. On analyzing the data from survey and content analysis, it is
found that television advertisements play a major role in influencing female users of Fair and Lovely. It
was also found that there has been a significant change in the ethos of these advertisements after ASCI’s
new guidelines in 2014.