Fair and Lovely

1. Is it ethical to sell a product that is, at best, only mildly effective? Discuss.

According to my opinion it is not ethical to sell the product that is at best, only mild effective because at a spur of the moment the consumer one feel it is the best but as the time goes on one understands the difference and realizes that their trust and loyalty with implicit understanding have been impeached and this may affect the brand in certain ways like pricing, promotion and may be distribution. The product fair and lovely lightens the skin which is called the miracle worker and provides the result within the four weeks of the use but dermatologist have already explained the reasons that it is never going to last forever but on the contrary it is going to have a temporary effect because of bleaching. No consumers want to buy a product that is only showing minimal changes as result. No consumer wants to buy a product that shows only a slight change as a result. buyers will think twice to buy this product, because they feel that bleaching will not be eternal if they stop using this product. if the user thinks like this, then the company should look for another alternative to keep the buyers and make his company to survive in the market share.

2. Is it ethical to exploit cultural norms and values to promote a product? Discuss.

It is not ethical to exploit cultural norms and values to, promote the product as the cultural norms and values plays an integral part in promoting the product but point should be considered. Human dignity should be taken into consideration while promoting through cultural aspects. From this case it is clearly observed that sales of the products are based on the success of advertisements. Skin colour is a powerful theme in India and much of Asia where a lighter color represents a higher status. This idea have strengthened and supported in the advertisement by taking the advantage of the dark skin of the people in India and emphasis on the benefit of having a lighter colour skin. there are different values for different culture. Marketers use these different preferences and try to attract customers by showing customers desire without considering norms and values of any culture.

At that time marketers only intention is to earn profit so they try to exploit cultural norms and values. There are some rules and regulation regarding marketing promotions. There are also some rules regarding advertising. That rules describes what a marketer can do in their advertisement and what a marketer cannot do in their advertisement. It is not ethical to exploit any cultural norms or values through any advertisement. Advertisement is important for marketing promotion but by exploiting any cultural norms and values, it will not be accepted to all. If any company does this kind of acts then they will be in a risk of any legal action by any other people and that may also cause a very bad reputation for the company for the future business.

3. Is the advertising of Fair & Lovely demeaning to women, or is it promoting the fairness cream in a way not too dissimilar from how most cosmetics are promoted?

Advertising of fair and lovely is demeaning to the women because the ads were racist, they were insulting working women, degrading Human rights and clearly pointed the discrimination on the basis of the colour as well as also have pointed that success in the leading fields are due to fair colour rather than intellectual ability. It also points out that beauty is defined in context to the colour of the skin rather than the features. It also suggest that beauty plays an important role than brain in the success for the women which is a kind of degrading the moral values and principle of women. The advertisement of Fair and Lovely is different form cosmetics advertisement in general. It would have been better if the advertisements were to avoid any issues of races, preferences, caste, skin colour and nationality.

4. Will HLL’s Fair & Lovely Foundation be enough to counter charges made by AIDWA? Discuss.

Yes the HLL’s fair and lovely foundation was enough to counter the charges made by AIDWA by encouraging the economic empowerment of the women across India by providing the resources in education and business. In addition HLL sponsored career fairs in over 20 cities across the country offering counseling in many as 110 careers. What a fairer future and achievement focusing against the charges of AIDWA of racism, insulting the work by calling her dark and so on.

5. In light of AIDWA’s charges, how would you suggest Fair & Lovely promote its product? Discuss. Would your response be different if Fairever continued to use “fairness” as a theme of its promotion? Discuss.

I suggest Fair and Lovely to look for everyday needs and wants of people everywhere to anticipate the aspirations of our consumers and customers to respond creatively and competitively with the branded products and services which raises the quality of life. Fair and Lovely need to has a different approach to their advertising strategy. They could make different commercials without comparing two different skin tones, maybe making a commercial with the products results. A before and after commercial might be better so the people buying the product would know what they are buying. This is the brand oriented marketing. The statement by HLL in 2005 showed the popularity of the product and its advanced technology in this industry. According to my opinion it reflects the marketing strategy as it previously emphasized on the branded products thinking that it would reflect the promotion of the product but in the latter years it focused on the specific product and was much specified to the benefits of the product with the detailed in depth. A before and after commercial might be better so the people buying the product would know what they are buying. “Fairness” is Fair & Lovely’s theme I don’t think it could be changed. If you want lighter skin you want to be fair. If you want whiter teeth you buy whitening gel, to me it’s the same thing.

6. Propose a promotion/marketing program that will counter all the arguments and charges against Fair & Lovely and be an effective program.

The Fair & Lovely case is a good example on how companies can expand its market share through fixing a mistake. The company used advertising and marketing practices that degraded the women’s figure. With a little research it is possible to understand why this approach failure. Due to historical issues, India is one of the countries where women are fighting harder than the westerns to achieve a space in the marketplace, as well as in society. After all the charges made by the AIWA’S, the company changed its marketing strategy, for another one related directly to the Indians women’s issues. For me, it was a great twist! Because, they have changed the message sent in their ads, portraying a confident and happy woman. A Foundation was created offering training, counselling and scholarship for low-income women. Different sizes of the product were created, making it available for the mass. In addition, entrepreneur training was available, through the Project Shakti, giving women the possibility of making profit from selling the product. In addition, to the practices already created by the company I would suggest, a TV program where the average women would tell about their experiences with the product. Moreover, I would develop a campaign exploring the different types of women, demystifying the beauty stereotype reigned in India.

7. Now that a male market for fairness cream exist, is the strength of AIDWA’s argument weakened?

AIDWA argument is not a relation with the emergence of a male market. AIDWA’s arguments only relate to the advertising of Fair and Lovely which the target market segment of Females. In the midst of emergence of a male market, the female segment was still targeted with the same product Fair and Lovely, same positioning of Fairness and with same volumes. Therefore we Observe That the newly emerged male or Identified segment was served with the new product named Fair and Handsome, Menz Active and Fair One Man. This was resulted in a new marketing campaign Sharukh Khan Became the which the brand ambassador. This resulted HLL advertising strategy to the new male segment to be totally different from the Fair’s Lovely advertising campaign. The adverts carry new male ideology without compromising the overall position of the product “Fairness”. Therefore it is evident That the newly emerged male market segments Identified or its advertising campaign and do not impact on any of the claims made ​​by AIDWA’s on the advertising of the Fair and Lovely.

8. Comment on using “Shakti Ammas” to introduce “fairness cream for the masses” in light of AIDWA’s Charges.