Fair & Lovely is a skin lightening cream mainly used in India.
What is disturbing about the cream is that not only does it automatically whiten the surface of the skin but the manipulation and the propaganda of the cream are what makes is more sickening. This is an ad I found on youtube and the overview of the ad is that the Nepalese girl wins the heart of a guy after applying Fair & Lovely and the guys instantly fall in love with her but a day ago with her original dark skin, he had no interest but this magical cream somehow not only made her skin white but also wins the heart of guy.
The plot of the advertisement: The young Nepalese girl attends a traditional ceremony as she gets ready to line up to pay her respect at the temple. While in line, she catches an eye of a handsome Nepalese guy and the women next to her introduce the two. The guy character says the very minimum barely interested in the girl while the girl falls madly in love. Heartbroken, the girl stares at her self in the mirror and frowns on her medium to dark skin. Soon after, her mom comes into the room and introduces her to Fair & Lovely. The next day as the girl attend the same ceremony, she walks confidently and has much lighter skin. As she walks by the same guy from to walk to the end of the line, he leaves his spot and follows her to the end of the line just so he can talk to her. The advertisement ends with both of them talking and falling in love.
What I find problematic is that for one, not only does Fair & Lovely advocate and install the value that white skin is better than dark skin but girls who have lighter skin have a better chance in finding love. This goes against the idea of embracing yourself and being comfortable and accepting towards who you are. The second thing I find troublesome is that this particular Fair & Lovely advertisement uses religion as a barrier to acceptance towards the use of this product. Since most Nepalese are very spiritually devoted people, this advertisement will normalize the use of Fair & Lovely and will affect a lot of young girls and boys in Nepal.