In all fairness..

The world of television programming is peppered.. to sneezing point, with advertisements of just about every product imaginable.
I'm still reeling with disgust at having seen an ad for a fairness cream. It actually made me turn of the television in revulsion. If you knew me, you'd know how difficult it is to get me to turn off the TV.
The ad had a young and UNsucessful woman, finding success at her feet as soon as she begins to use a particular fairness cream. Not only does the glop take away her previously dark skin, it also allows her to overcome every obstacle she couldn't earlier. Fair skin supposedly gives the women confidence in themselves, which leads them to try new avenues and in the end, succeed in everything. Relationships, careers, material possessions....All by the power of fair skin..?
DISGUSTING! What sort of message does this send out to dark/not so fair skinned women world wide..? Not just women, isn't this an indirect message to men to choose fair skinned women over others..? Even men are not spared from the clutches of the fairness cream. Move over 'tall, dark and handsome'; here comes metrosexuality.

The very root of racial differences is the supposed superiority of fair skinned over the non.
"Skin color has nothing to do with how beautiful, or successful a person is." While accepted by most. There are some who find the above statement very hard to digest. Who is to tell whether such thoughts are not the seeds sown by exposure to such propaganda..? South Asia is the prime market for these corporations,where sales of skin lightening products are sky high. This can be attributed to a pre-established cultural belief of the characteristically darker skinned people of the region who equate fairness with high caste status, good looks and high eligibility for marriage.

I am aware that they are a profit oriented industry with little else to lose. But I wonder if these people are aware of the effects of such adverts? Cashing in on the South East Asian mentality where fair skin rules the roost is not very commendable and to top that they do it while hiding beneath the cover of such cosmetics being a matter of 'personal choice'.

Image Courtesy: www.indiantelevision.com

45 seconds of a fairness cream ad. That's 45 seconds of luring gullible customers into buying these products, 45 whole seconds of driving home the carelessly veiled message of the 'superiority' of fairer skin; not to mention the constant repetition of the same ads. These figures may be slightly dated, but with the advent of fairness creams for men, I can safely assume the 45 second segment has only increased further.
Click here for more figures of fairness creams TV advertising.

I find it difficult to believe that in a world like ours, with rising literacy rates and increasing global integration, one is still exposed to and influenced by such propaganda. Rather pitiful actually. And don't even get me started on the effectiveness of these products.
Tut tut cosmetics industry!... more on that later!


Here's a rather comprehensive article I found while surfing:
http://www.mcphate.com/clips/fairness.htm


On a lighter note, thanks to Muaz, my knight in shining armor when it comes to all my computer related problems, for helping me with this seemingly simple photoshop effect.