Nandita makes dark beautiful, fairness market registers negative growth

‘Many people now feel that they do not have to get a fair skin to get success in life. Brown or dark skin is being liked by the young.’

Actress and activist Nandita Das’ “Dark is Beautiful” campaign is having an impact. The fairness cream and lotion market registered a slow growth in this past year primarily due to a change in the attitude of consumers. As per Nielsen India, the skin whitening market witnessed a negative growth of 4.5% in sales volumes in 2012-2013.

“For the last one and half years, there has been a change in the attitude of young Indian consumers. Many people now feel that they do not have to get a fair skin to get success in life. Brown or dark skin is being liked by young consumers,” said brand expert Harish Bijoor.

The sales of Fair & Lovely skin lightening products, the largest player with nearly 60% of the market share, saw a decline by 4.2% last year, while the sales of Fair & Handsome dipped by 14%. According to market estimates, the fairness cream and lotion industry as a whole is pegged at Rs 2,940-crore and is expected to grow at a slower pace as compared to its growth rate in the last decade.

“I have been getting tonnes of mails on the email id that is on my website, where mostly women have shared their stories of discrimination and feel validated with this campaign. The response has truly been overwhelming. I think the time has come to react to this fairness obsession,” said Nandita Das.

She added that young consumers including men were losing confidence purely because of the existing bias in society. “They are being made to feel unworthy, inadequate, unacceptable.