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!
You have hit the nail on the head , Manasa!...In a country where everyone is primarily brown skinned, it seems ridiculous that a lighter shade is given so much prominence. I am happy that you get to vent your feelings through this blog.
ReplyDeleteEven more troubling is the fact that certain star icons are endorsing these products and making fools of the gullible public.Wear your skin with pride ...that's what you said. I cannot agree more. No tube of cream is going to change what god has bestowed on you!!!
Great job! I loved you blog! I too hate such ads.....When will Indians realized that our brown skins are beautiful
ReplyDeleteGood job! keep it up....
ReplyDeletei agree!!
ReplyDeleteOnce in India, I've seen so many such examples of advertisements which in my opinion is ridiculous! I totaly agree with you that everything that's given to us in life is a gift and suits us the best than anything else anyone else has so we should be proud of how we look and who we are. No one is perfect and skin color is unambiguously not a factor determining one's success or superiority. I think you've done an outstanding job here especially in expressing your thoughts and analysing a throughout meaning of these advertisements. I also like that you are concentrating on your own country's issues and exploring them further.
ReplyDeleteIf you were fair, I'd have made you my Daughter-in-law is what my Aunt said me once. The same of my complexion is his son too. Then what made her ask for a FAIR Daughter-in-law?
ReplyDeleteLovely. Reading this was enjoyable. It's incredibly embarrassing that an ideology implanted on Indians by a "renowned" company has become the ideal for many Indians; not just women, but men too. I hope you don't mind me using some key points in this for an assignment!
ReplyDeleteIf you want to be fair use fair and lovely
ReplyDeleteIf you want to be dark use tan
Don't hate each other