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