L’Oreal, Shiseido, Unilever, and Emami all share a common thread. They each, like many other make-up companies, make a profit off of colorism – prejudice against individuals with a dark skin tone – through the manufacture and sell of skin lighteners. The skin lightening industry is worth millions of dollars and is still growing in many countries around the world. The industry is booming for many reasons, such as: perceived benefits of light skin, the type of advertisements companies use, and a lack of governmental intervention despite the known consequences of using skin lighteners.
One reason why people choose to use skin lightening products is because there are many perceived and, in some cases, real benefits from having fair or light skin. …show more content…
Those companies that sell skin lightening products are no different. Perceived benefits are a common factor within most of the advertisements for skin lighteners. One common advertisement you find for skin lighteners is a character who is ashamed or being shamed by friends or family for being dark. The character feels insecure about the way they look, they go and buy a certain product to help them. After using the product, they come back happy, fun, and most importantly fair skinned (Source 1 pg. 225). There are also other forms of advertisements used to get people to buy skin lightening creams. Some advertisements have celebrity figures such as movies stars giving their stories and explaining say how easy the product is to use and how it really does work (Source 1 pg. 226). One last, but typical type of advertisement, is of romance. The main character is in love, but has been flawed with dark skin making them overlooked by their item of affection. After using the skin lightening cream, the main character is much more attractive and the love interest now falls for the main character they get together. By using the insecurities of people with dark skin and highlighting the perceived benefits of having fair skin, companies selling skin lightening products will continue to be bought although some of the chemicals used in making these products can be extremely damaging to the
One reason why people choose to use skin lightening products is because there are many perceived and, in some cases, real benefits from having fair or light skin. …show more content…
Those companies that sell skin lightening products are no different. Perceived benefits are a common factor within most of the advertisements for skin lighteners. One common advertisement you find for skin lighteners is a character who is ashamed or being shamed by friends or family for being dark. The character feels insecure about the way they look, they go and buy a certain product to help them. After using the product, they come back happy, fun, and most importantly fair skinned (Source 1 pg. 225). There are also other forms of advertisements used to get people to buy skin lightening creams. Some advertisements have celebrity figures such as movies stars giving their stories and explaining say how easy the product is to use and how it really does work (Source 1 pg. 226). One last, but typical type of advertisement, is of romance. The main character is in love, but has been flawed with dark skin making them overlooked by their item of affection. After using the skin lightening cream, the main character is much more attractive and the love interest now falls for the main character they get together. By using the insecurities of people with dark skin and highlighting the perceived benefits of having fair skin, companies selling skin lightening products will continue to be bought although some of the chemicals used in making these products can be extremely damaging to the