Analysis of Fair and Handsome's Advertisement

Emami's Fair and Handsome is one of the most popular fairness creams for men. Its success inspired other skin care brands to expand their markets by advertising fairness products for male use. However, this kind of advertising is leading to self-consciousness among males who are unhappy with their skin tones.

There is a paradigmatic relationship between the two words Fair and Handsome. The words fair as well as handsome are signs that define each other. It is signified that those who are fair are handsome or those who are handsome are fair. The name of the product has given us an idea about the ideology of the product's company. However, we can learn more from Fair and Handsome's advertisement.

The television advertisement features a dark-skinned man who tries to woo a beautiful girl. Suddenly, his sister arrives, scolding him for using her fairness cream. Further, Shahrukh Khan, one the biggest Bollywood actors, also arrives and tells him off for using a girl's fairness cream. Later the people around him also tease him for doing so. Therefore, there is a paradigm that men do not use women's fairness creams. This is presented as a song with dancing and singing. The connotations of song and dance relate the Indian audience with Bollywood, India's film industry, which is known for its music rich films.

While singing, Shahrukh explains that men have hard skin which does not react to women's fairness creams. He demonstrates the roughness of men's skin by striking a match against the dark-skinned man's face. The lighted match denotes fire. The connotations of fire are anger or disagreement. This suggests that his face had a "disagreement" with the match stick that produced fire. In simpler terms, his face was so rough that it lit a match stick.

Then Fair and Handsome is introduced, a skin cream for men with American double strength peptide. The advertisers are using metonymy by making use of the word "American". The Indian audience connects the word "American" to the United States of America. There is an ideology that anything having an American connection is wonderful.

It is mentioned that this product has a double strength peptide. This signifies that this product is the creation of science. There is a myth that if something has been approved by science then it must be effective. Therefore, the paradigmatic relationship between the words "American" and "double strength peptide" makes this product sound impressive. 

Finally, after using the cream, the once dark-skinned man becomes fairer than before. He is greeted by many women who sing, "Hi handsome, hi handsome..." Thus the ideology of Fair and Handsome is revealed signifying that those who are white skinned are more attractive.

Link to Fair and Handsome's advertisement

Analysis of Fair and Lovely's Advertisement

The name of a popular skin cream, Fair and Lovely, troubles me. The signs Fair and Lovely have a paradigmatic relationship with one another. Together they signify that those who are fair skinned are lovely or beautiful. Is this truly fair to those who are dark skinned? Further, Fair and Lovely's advertisement also suggests a similar ideology.

The advertisement starts off with an old couple in an ordinary apartment. The couple's clothes are dull brown in color and match their walls. The connotations of dull and brown are misery, poverty and unhappiness. These connotations are proved when the couple start to discuss their poverty.

As the conversation takes place, the husband mentions that he wishes they had a son to support them. Their dark-skinned daughter overhears this. She feels sad that her parents believe that she cannot support them. Here a common Indian myth is displayed. There is an ideology that sons are more able to carry out tasks because of their strength and can therefore support their parents financially. We learn of a code that signifies that daughters can only do housework and raise children. They cannot support their parents.

On returning to her room, the daughter spots an advertisement in the newspaper for the recruitment of air hostesses and sees it as a sign. She should become the "son" her parents never had by becoming an air hostess. However, she sees her dark-skin as a signifier, signifying ugliness and doubts her abilities. Just then, the television airs an advertisement for Fair and Lovely. Is this the answer to her problems?

The advertisement continues, showing the various properties of the cream. The properties of the cream are signs which have a syntagmatic relationship. The camera keeps shifting back to the girl who is now dressed in all pink and is walking confidently in a hallway. Her back is towards us. We as an audience learn that she is walking into a room where air hostess aspirants are being interviewed. She faces the interviewers and instantly dazzles them with her beauty and fairness. She doesn't need to show them her resume and has no trouble in landing the job.

It is important to note that she is dressed in pink. Her pink clothes are a sign. By using metonymy, we relate the color pink to the logo of Fair and Lovely which is primarily pink. The connotation of the color pink is femininity, signifying that she has become more feminine due to this product. The background is white. The connotations of the word white are purity or brightness. This signifies that her life has become "brighter" or more cheerful and that she has gained purity.

Upon returning home, she surprises her parents by taking them to an expensive restaurant. Her fair skin and the expensive restaurant act as indexical signs which lead us to believe that her fair skin is the reason for her wealth.  

Therefore, we can see from this advertisement that the ideology of this company is that those who are fair can achieve great lengths. In my opinion, this is a wrong idea that is spreading among Indians who are becoming more and more self-conscious of their skin tones. Such advertisements increase the sense of inferiority due to skin color. Wear your skin with pride!

Youtube Link to Fair and Lovely Advertisement