Advertisers are no longer allowed to “perpetuate the notion that dark skin is inferior and undesirable”.
On Tuesday, the Advertising Standards Council of India issued a set of guidelines specifically for ads endorsing skin lightening and fairness products. "There is a strong concern in certain sections of society that advertising of fairness products tends to communicate and perpetuate the notion that dark skin is inferior and undesirable," the memo states by way of introduction.
The new guidelines broadly stipulate that advertisements can no longer enforce stigmas against dark skinned individuals. They are as follows (emphasis added by BuzzFeed):
• Advertising should not communicate any discrimination as a result of skin colour. These ads should not reinforce negative social stereotyping on the basis of skin colour. Specifically, advertising should not directly or implicitly show people with darker skin in a way which is widely seen as unattractive, unhappy, depressed, or concerned. These ads should not portray people with darker skin in a way which is widely seen as at a disadvantage of any kind, or inferior, or unsuccessful in any aspect of life particularly in relation to being attractive to the opposite sex, matrimony, job placement, promotions, and other prospects.
• In the pre-usage depiction of product, special care should be taken to ensure that the expression of the model/s in the real and graphical representation should not be negative in a way which is widely seen as unattractive, unhappy, depressed, or concerned.
• Advertising should not associate darker or lighter colour skin with any particular socio-economic strata, caste, community, religion, profession, or ethnicity.
• Advertising should not perpetuate gender-based discrimination because of skin colour.
ASCI's former chairperson Bharat Patel told Live Mint that since it is compulsory for television commercials to comply with ASCI mandates, most major advertisers will heed these new guidelines. "We expect 92% compliance in print also, as most large advertisers will follow the guidelines," he added.
Skin-lightening products are distributed in India by several multinational brands, including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Revlon, Johnson & Johnson, and L'Oréal. The products feeding this market are also endorsed by a myriad of Indian A-list celebrities.
