While a movement of anti-racist demonstrations is gaining momentum around the world following the death of George Floyd, the L'Oréal company has announced that it will no longer tout the "whitening" effects of its products.
In a press release published this Saturday, June 27, the French cosmetics company, L'Oréal, announced that it would delete words like "bleaching" and "clarification" of its products. "The L'Oréal group has decided to remove the words white / whitening, clear from all its products intended to standardize the skin", said the French company without giving more details on this withdrawal.
This decision comes soon after a number of cosmetic brands were singled out for their lightening products as a wave of protests against racism grows stronger. This shows a willingness to change the beauty giants to fight against racial stereotypes. Lightening creams for the skin of L'Oréal are among the most popular in the cosmetics market. They are especially intended for Asian, African and Caribbean buyers who are faced with a cultural stigma according to which lighter skin is perceived as more aesthetic.
The announcement of L'Oréal follows that of the Indian subsidiary from Unilever, who decided to rename its lightening cream for the skin, marketed under the name of "Fair & Lovely", very popular in Asia since the product would have generated $ 500 million in revenue in India last year. The Anglo-Dutch company has promised to stop using the word "Fair " which means "clear" because the brand says "committed to celebrating all skin tones"However, the company maintains that the range Fair & Lovely "has never been and is not a skin whitening product".
For its part, Johnson & Johnson also committed to discontinue some of its products Neutrogena and Clean & Clear, designed for Asia and the Middle East. They will be banned from sale this week.
Following anti-racist protests, sparked by the death of George Floyd, an African-American asphyxiated by a white police officer in Minneapolis, many companies have announced plans to change their visual identity. Uncle Ben’s, Aunt Jemima or Banania should remove their icons deemed racist.