They say beauty lies in the eyes of its beholder and we couldn’t agree more. Just like fashion, the standard of beauty has its own interpretations and cannot be categorized. Undoubtedly, it is the moral duty of beauty brands and their companies to include everyone in their product offerings, irrespective of skin tone and texture. And that’s exactly why Unilever has announced to deviate from age-old beauty norms in an effort to champion ‘new era of beauty' and inclusivity.
The company that owns beauty brands like Dove, Vaseline, Lifebuoy, Sure, and many more, has decided to drop the word ‘normal’ from all its beauty and personal care products' packaging and advertising as a part of its ‘Positive Beauty vision and strategy.’ The company’s aim is to "champion a new era of beauty, which is equitable, inclusive, and sustainable," according to a press release.
Apart from excluding the word normal, Unilever has pledged not to enhance or alter a person’s shape, size or colour in the advertisement and has committed to "increasing the number of advertisements portraying people from diverse groups who are under-represented." This move comes after conducting a 10,000-person study across nine countries (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the UK, and the US), which revealed that more than half of the people surveyed felt excluded by the beauty and personal-care industry. They also found out the 7 out of 10 people felt that the word ‘normal’ has a negative impact on brand advertising.
For those having the opinion of ‘serving old wine in new bottle’- yes, it doesn't solve the existing problems and the products are still the same that they are trying to sell, but sometimes a correct method of representation makes a huge impact as a language really matters. Though it may be a small step, but it’s still counted as moving forward in a long journey that challenges the age-old beauty norms and standards. What are your thoughts?
(Source- Popsugar)
