Pale white or pinkish white?
People who’ve known from close quarters will vouch for the fact that I’m a strong advocate for woman’s rights. This post may have served as an indicator for the keen eye, even otherwise I’m openly voicing my opinion in this post. In a world filled with chauvinists I don’t mind being called a feminist, and infact I think it’s cool! I also realize it’s high time I stop this self praise and cut to the chase if you may. If you have been watching any desi channels offlate or even the news, you can’t help but notice the Ponds commercials featuring Saif, Neha and Priyanka from blingtown. I actually like watching TV commercials for the creativity factor as opposed to people who switch channels during a break. This ad has every reason to hold on to the remote, for it features a former Miss World, a former Miss India and a blackbuck hunting Nawab of Pataudi. The reason I chose to name their titles is because inspite of having some impressive credentials they chose to endorse such a campaign. I’ve always had my differences with fairness creams for I personally feel that you cannot reverse pigmentation. You can only prevent the skin from getting tanned or clean the pores and make it look vibrant. But your color is what you are born with. Melanin and the variation of it’s concentration is genetic. You can only surgically change it, and we all know what happens then!
Enough of this science class and I’m no dermatologist, so I’ll stop here. I saw the ad and later devled into it and found its making video. What followed was pretty shocking as I heard what the actors felt about the shoot and the product. Here’s the full making and below are a few excerpts
Neha: This is a beautiful film we did for ponds, the brand has the ability to make everyone and everything look beautiful
Priyanka: Being a part of ponds and turning around and saying ‘This does make a difference’ makes me feel great! I know it did to me so i can with all honesty tell you.
Neha: We need things(products) that are promising that look after our needs
Priyanka: Love is what make s the world go around, and ponds is love’s helping hand
Neha: For every need of a woman Ponds is always there.
Saif: Blah blah blah (Do I need to even tell you or do you really care? The man’s verbally challenged, so ‘lite le lo’)
What pains me the most is that two women who were the epitome of beauty and chosen to represent the country at the grandest stage ever, talk like this! However it’s a known fact that there they mouthed rehearsed lines on poverty, world peace and education. For those who are still trying to figure out the reason behind my resentment, let me briefly explain the plot.
Saif dumps Priyanka who is dark and falls for a fairer Neha. If he digs only fair chicks hen why they were together in the first place beats me. The ‘bechaari and dukhiyaari ladki‘ that Priyanka is sees an ad that enlightens us that there are two shades of white. Neha is
only
pale white
and pinkish white
beats it
in a game
of rock-paper-scissorsNeha is only pale white and pinkish white beats it in a game of rock-paper-scissors. So Priyanka sets out in her quest to turn pinkish white ‘sirf saath hafton mein‘. Meanwhile bad girl Neha sends Priyanka message from Saif’s phone who is oblivious to the scheme! This scene should certify that pale white is evil and hence must be beaten at all costs. In perfect filmi tradition Saif has a fight with Neha and comes to buy flowers for her from a shop owned by who else but ‘apni seedhi saadhi dukhiyaari ladki‘ who is in the 5th week of the process. Old flames ignite, but since this is not a contraceptive ad they cut the scene then and there. Finally at the airport Saif sees Priyanka ascending an escalator while Neha is descending at the same time. This is when he notices the ‘saath hafton ka kamaal‘ and symbolically we are told in whose favor the balance has shifted. Being a huge fan of south Indian cinema I was quick to spot where this idea came from. Look at this video if you want to know what I’m talking about(After 1:30 to be precise). So finally pinkish white beats pale white and Saif comes running back to Priyanka, who is ecstatic to have him back and accepts him with open arms.
For those who want to hate themselves, the five-part ad can be found here, here, here, here and here. Some of you may want to sway away from the issue and praise the concept and creativity. So for your viewing pleasure I also present the original version of this ad. So much for creativity and concept!
I can’t comment bout the ladeej, but am I the only person who felt shameful for being a guy after seeing this or are there others? Isn’t this a form of racism? And which sane girl would take back a guy who dumped her because of his lust for the fair skinned? A few questions rose in my head and I throw them open to my readers to ponder.
Q: Who is to be blamed?
1) Such products or the makers of such cliched ads?
2) Such spineless men and women without self-respect?
3) The psyche of the society as such and its preference for the skin tone.
The floor is all yours…
PS: I was expecting some of my more vocative and popular female blog friends to take this up, but ended up taking it myself
PPS: I know isn’t your regular post, but it hit me hard. The usual stuff will be back soon.
Aiyo, we’ve given up on society dude! And personally I dont know what the fuss about fair skin is, it makes your zit look 10 times bigger.
I’d take the Simpsons Yellow anyday!
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me: It’s the fair-skinned who find no big deal with it. I wanna hear voices from the other end of the spectrum!
In one of my Advertising and Sales Promotion classes, a ‘Fair and Lovely’ ad (that dark girl getting-rejected-applying-faril&lovely-getting-selected in an interview) was played and our prof (who is the head of Brand Comm) asked my opinion on the ad. I just said this ad makes me angry and I hate it. He said that it is their success, an ad should make one like or dislike it, but not indifferent.
Coming to your question, I will not blame the makers of the ad or the actors, since they are just making use of the opportunity here. The opportunity is the psyche of the society which judges a person by his/her external appearance.
Btw, Alyque Padamsee in one of his interviews said that the number of men who use fairness creams in India is much much more than the number of women who use them. 😉 I can tolerate Priyanka, but not Surya who dances with ‘Fair and Handsome’ in his hand!
Payyan Vijayakanth personality a irundha kooda ponnu Asin madhiri kaekura ulagamada ithu!!
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me: Well It’s nice to hear from someone in the industry. And your last line said it all! welcome to this space by the way..
It’s just amazing how much money there is in skin-lightening! Wish I could come up with a fake product to claim a piece of that pie! What is surprising is that this ad doesn’t seem to be aimed at rural/ simple people like the tacky Fair & Lovely type ads usually are. Perhaps Pond’s is trying to subtly woo modern/ educated/ urban types and expand a saturated market.
As for the original ad with East Asian characters, sometimes major international ad firms (like Ogilvy in this case) use the same ad concept in multiple markets, so this might not quite be a pure rip-off.
Finally – I’d like for any Indian (even the Pathan kinds) to call their complexion pinkish white in Alabama and get away with it!
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me: Considering moving away from renewable energy? But yea the market targetted here is different and quite interesting. For I thought that niche was dying out and didn’t care too much on such stuff. I’m not sayin that it is a rip-off, but just that there is no desi creativity behind it. That is generally why I love watching ads, I love desi creativity..
Not too long ago, it was ‘dark skinned’ pitted against ‘fair/white skinned’, now it’s ‘pale white’ against ‘pinkish white’! Wow! Talk about skin-tone evolution! How incredibly pathetic! I think the answer to your MCQ would be 3-1-2, in that order. Firstly, the long ingrained affinity for fair skin in the minds of the people is the culprit and needs to be weeded out. This love for ‘gorapan’ is ageless and sure needs to die! Secondly, the makers of such films, as the one in question, should not be encouraged to nurture such misconceptions. And finally, the ‘L’oser-actors should be given lessons on how to love themselves for the way they are and not succumb to such ridiculous notions, and worse still, vouch for them! (my deeeep guttural ‘thoo’ to them!)
PS:
(1) What’s with Neha’s virile look man! She and Saif look like ‘brothers’!! bbbuuuwwwaaaccckkk……*throwing up bowels*. Either she’s having a sex-change operation or Saify’s shifting gears (he was once married to Amrita Singh afterall, another butch!) (my guts churn as I write this!). I’d say ‘Pinky’ Chopra (pun intended) is a babe any day! Also, the chick from the original version is an eye-candy too!
(2) For the ‘Malai da….Annamalai’ video, a Telugu dubbed version, subtitles or even a translation would be quite helpful. I could only pick a few sporadic words and phrases!
(3) This comment is as long as a post. I should really, really learn when to stop!
@ idling: The Pathan would definitely get away with it! Infact, he would probably gladly be incorporated into the KKK or the National Alliance! All he needs to do is not mention that he adheres to Islam! Coz, trust me I’ve seen Pathans who are whiter than the whitest of the white people!! Maaaan, are they WHITE!
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me: firstly, i havent given you an all of the above choice! Nor is it arrange in order. yet I’ll consider your answer. Ms.Dhupia looks masculine? Well you should see her exploits in julie and one super B-Grade film called ‘Sheesha’. I like a song in that but the video is shame-shame! You don’t need translation for the video, I only wanted you to look at the escalator scene and how it symbolizes an mans downfall. The same movie was remade in Hindi by ‘remake kapoor’ and stars Shotgun sinha and Jitendra. No wonder his son is in the same business! Gargantuan reply for your comment!
O BTW! Someone please remind Rajji bhai that it is unlawful to smoke inside the precincts of a ‘shtaar vottal’ except in designated smoking areas! It ees very suffocating, I say! Bleddy hell!!
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me: such comments on a blog where 70% of the readership is pro-rajnikanth doesn’t help you. try here
wow.. a fake indi- brit accent goes with it too.. did u hear about the recent Beyonce ‘whitening’ scandal? http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/09/fashion.race
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me: Guess its a worldwide phenomenon! welcome to this space though!
Lol..
You beat me to this.. I wanted to rant about the very same ad. Its really stupid.. the whole concept.. When I saw the first part itself I guessed it’d have such a lame ending..
The older pond’s white magic ad was much much better.. the one where the husband cooks a nice dinner and plays host for the wife…
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me: exactly, the product itself is enough to put me off, and now the ad take that to a diff level! And oh yea, welcome!
I have never seen this ad. I guess Indian TV has been out for me for sometime. I HATE Fair and Lovely ads or for that matter, Fair and Handsome ads!
I blame everyone during the whole process. There is no way we can say companies are utilizing the opportunity of such a psyche in India. Hey, they are not outside this psyche! And these models, I do not want to use bad words here, really. I’m boiling wild with every Fair and Lovely ad. They only seem to get worse by each new one.
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me: you are no longer desi! btw orre kovam? nice ncie…
I just saw the ad again. Mebbe the li’l konchum extra cleavage that P shows in the ends helps also. Grrrrr
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me: I’m not complaining! * ducks under the table to escape from nandini’s sandal *
Maxu babu: When I was your age I boiled at such insinuations, such complexes, such attempts to revert nature, the importance we bestow on inconsequentials such as colour of skin, shape of nose, size of hips.
Now I’d say it disturbs me and fills me with ‘white fury’ -pardon the pun sir- when a woman/man is rejected on a marriage platform on the basis of their skin colour; a job or a pay hike is bypassed over colour and so on. History tells us the ignominy that one class of peoples perpetuated on another in the form of slavery based on race and colour. Such as the impact that in a crude reverse form of appreciation, there are many who want to ‘lighten’ their skin tones to make themselves feel acceptable. Terrible really the prejudice we can perpetuate upon ourselves too in a perverse manner. While there are many who are comfortable in their skins, there are an equal number who choose to judge themselves through the eyes of others and chase creams and potions.
It’s a mental wiring issue:Why do so called good looking and successful and SLIM women suffer from eating disorders, or go around slashing wrists say like Britney Spears? Why does whacko Jacko sleep with children and go a hundred times under the knife to alter his face, and whiten his pigment? Why do all Black female singers sport straight, nylon wigs or ironed hair these days?What ever happened to those Diana Rosses and their curly mops? Can’t be that Blacks’ genetic dispositions to black curly hair has reversed and it’s not always fashion that makes most of them go blonde?
The anecdote in the Indian author David Davidar ( who is breathtakingly ebon and muscular-a true southern specimen)’s novel, ‘The House of Blue Mangoes’ tells you the story of a rags to riches story of a probable Dalit elder near Thoothukudi who invents some silly formula to bottle a cream to lighten skin tone. By the end of the novel he is so rich that generations that follow him reap the benefits of scarred psyches of customers willing to slap that cream on their noses to turn fair.
Frankly the Bollywood Dhupia, Chopra and Ali Khan going pink or peach didn’t irritate me. Silly rich people chasing stupid notions of prettification I’d diss it.
But advertisements showing probable ‘real people’ who find their jobs/ positions rejected or win accolades after using skin whitening potions- now that is really disturbing and condemnable.
P.S:And I’m not popular. I ‘m an alternative aside, a minority !
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me: WOW! that is exactly why I say that you are a class apart! pearls of wisdom, and even your comments are as interesting as your posts. Of fine your are not popular you are popular and humble!
I know this sounds lame, but you stole the words from my mouth including the escalator scene in Annamalai! The first time I saw this ad, it made me so mad that I wanted to claw the copywriter who came up with this ad and then ponds and then the supposed “stars” in it.
I’ve heard some famous figures say things like they will never advocate alcohol and smoking anol that, someone please have the balls to say these fairness cream ads are more self destructive!
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me: haha, I just loved the Annamalai reference! Kya kare aap ka feminism humpe bhi thoda aa gaya!
But, if
Youre thinkin
About my baby
It dont matter if youre
Black or white
Someone did write the above words brilliantly. But no one seems to have told him – “Look who’s talking”.
As long as people continue buying the products, nothing sensible is possible.
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me:don’t we need to draw a line somewhere?
Fair and Lovely has been making similar ads for years now. I would love to see someone interview one of these ad film-makers or even the actors who endorse these brands and ask them point blank “Does being dark skinned imply that you are going to be disadvantaged in every possible undertaking? Because as your ads suggest, if I’m dark skinned, I obviously can’t be an actor, a commentator or even an eligible groom or bride”. I would love to see if they still have the balls to support their ads’ message.
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me: I just hate the ads where they show that the dark girl, uses the product and then get a job!
In my defense, I have never seen this ad 🙂 After reading your description, I wouldn’t want to either.. it does sound rather disgusting.
The first target of our ire is of course the makers of this ad – don’t they know better, we rage? How can they come out with an ad like this?
But the fact remains, such products sell because there is a demand in our society for them. Yes, there are many men who (even if they are not the lightest-skinned themselves) will only accept a “fair” bride. Then there are their mothers, who think it’s fairness of skin that matters in the bride more than fairness of heart.
Then there are women (of marriageable age, married and teenagers) who all want to lighten their skin just a little bit. Perhaps this is another obsession like dieting, or perming/ coloring hair, or perhaps it’s more like make-up to them. Who knows?
It’s sad that women are made to feel self-conscious and inferior because they are dark skinned. It’s sadder that sometimes even other women make them feel that way.
But then, this issue will not get resolved until women wake up and stop buying these products. I wonder if economically independent women use fairness products? Is it more used in rural rather than urban India? It should be interesting to see.
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me: apparently the ad seems to be targeting the educated woman who is low on confidence and self esteem. Earlier it used to be the middle class women who were showed to secured job or marriage proposals using such stuff. Rural women have no time for this shit!
It’s pathetic that in this day and age this sort of mentality still persists and thrives not just in India, but world over. I’m willing to bet that a lot of cosmetic giants are in on this conspiracy to play on this “racial mindset” and widen the gap more for their own capitalistic gains..it is what it is..I suppose.
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me: you hit the nail on it’s head! I’m ok with ani-aging, wrinkle creams, face wash stuff etc. But skin whitening is pushin the limits of the human psyche!
the deep indian complex asserts itself again…
probably because the first world is unanimously white, we want to be white. traditionally dark shades have more often been ruled rather than rulers. It is of course more absurd than wrong to attribute economic success to melanin production, but such fads easily appeal to the masses. A farmer or a babu’s daughter can use fair and lovely to become a few shades lighter and thereby contribute to india’s sense of first worldness…beats not taking bribes and slogging anyday! so there.. my 2 cents worth
and dude…im blogrolling you
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me: Honored! But yea its sad to see how these capitalists play on the middle class psyche!
mmmm…Come to think of it, it seems as if we have been swearing at Lord Krishna for being dark, calling Him names like ‘Shyamasundara’ (‘Black Beauty’?!!), ‘Neelameghashyama’ (‘Dark as a cloud’)! I wonder if He’s realized that! Poor Him! He seems to be thinking we’re worshipping him with these names! Haiyyooo Krishna! Amaayaka Chakravarthy!
I wonder what He would say/do if He were to watch these ads. He’d probably file a libel siut against Pond’s and Fair & Lovely, for mocking Him and add a nineteenth chapter to the Bhagavadgita – ‘Chhavivarnayogam’! Go Madhava!! We’re all with u!!
Jai Shri Krishna!
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me: spare the lord!
People are the problem. Folks with darker complexion would go for face-creams like this and folks with fairer skin would go for tanning treament and so. People always are not happy with what they are given. And as long as such ‘enticement towards change in color’ is there, such advertisments would be too. No matter how stupid they are.
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me: we are never happy with what we have…
there’s no point getting into the argument that we as consumers demand such products. its a vicious cycle. Its simpler to ban their ads and products than to change the mindset of an entire country. good post. i’d planned to do it and it slipped my mind. so much more effective when a man brings it up.
The sheer ignominy of this ad! There is another ad where a gal refuses a rose from a dark guy, and he uses a “Male” fairness cream, and wonder of wonders… the sun begins to rise from his head. When the same girl offers him a rose, he merely shrugs her off… I wouldn’t call This chauvinism, but the Ponds ad is one Big Insult to all concerned. A girl’s beauty and worth is so lowly judjed, its a shame that some of the big-wigs of the industry endorse such products.
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me: there’s my gal! spittin fire just like old times!
hmm.. good one
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me: thnx
Hey (its a little late but) just wanted to say a big Thank You for putting up this post. Every time any fair and lovely ad shows up i just turn off the tv. The worst part is that nobody else in the house sees anything wrong with it! my mother always shrugs it off as me being ‘too sensitive.’ So at least now i know someone(many someones from the comments) gets why the ad is so infuriating.
I always wonder if its the attitude of our parents that influence us into this(state of mind) or the sheer marketing power of these huge co-porations..and about the effects that both have on children. i plead guilty to using fair and lovely at the age of ten (ten! should have been out playing in the sun not worrying about my complexion).
Now i just avoid the topic all together..it seems easier than trying to make other people see the racism, classism (and maybe even sexism? it does seem to apply to men as well but in a much smaller scale no?) prevalent in the mind everytime they say ‘she is pretty for a dark girl’
I’m glad you liked it, it gives me immense pleasure to read comments like these.