I’m not in the best of moods today and I have this irresistible urge to lash out at something. I think I will just go ahead and slam this commercial that runs constantly on Arabic satellite channels. It is a well-crafted ad for a lotion that makes women "fair" and "lovely."
I personally think this ad should be banned due to its racist nature. Arab Women activists — if they really care — should follow in the footsteps of their counterparts in India and get this advertisement banned forever.
For those who have not seen the ad, here is the gist of it: A women who is ‘not that white’ decides to become "fair and lovely" by applying this lotion to her face. After she becomes "lovely" she gets a job as an interviewer on an Arabic satellite channel. The ad concludes with the woman’s mom shedding tears of joy as she watches her daughter on TV.
The theme song of this outrageous piece of advertisement sings "achieve your dream on your own." I’m assuming the dream in this case is to become white enough to get a job as a TV presenter at one of the major Arabic networks. If this is not racist I don’t know what is. I guess it goes back to the mentality found among many in the region: "fair" is beautiful.
In this part of the globe, fair women are always the best candidates for marriage and fair babies are always cuter than their darker kin. In a nutshell, if you are dark, you are cursed. I know this sounds outrageous but sadly enough this attitude is widespread. Let’s ban this ad!
Wow Natasha I was just thinking about this when I saw the ad for the millionth time yesterday… and the one before was even worse; this girl who wants to get the main role in a play and some guys laughs and says she never would (obviously because she was not ‘fair’) and then she goes off and uses the magical fair and lovely and wins the part in the play… Great success!!
So how about it you people? Let’s take some action instead of just lashing it out… can we start collecting signatures to ban it, or file a suit or something?? I’m not quite sure what can be done… any experienced activists or lawyers out there??
I always used to say I want to send Coca Cola a letter to complain about their ad where the bottle’s figure is compared to that of a female body… I found it very insulting, or the ad of the different thermos styles which are also compared to female model body shapes, it used to drive me nuts but I never did anything about it other than expressing my anger to family and friends!! come on let’s do something about this racist fair lotion crap!!!
I’ve been making lots of fun of these ads recently, as they seem to be the sole ad revenue source for One TV and MBC 4. In the US they sell this same cream to black women, that’s who the ads market to at least. And they are a bit more subtle in their approach, likely because anything else seems racist.
Here, what I’ve been making fun of, is the naturalness of the advert. There’s the one with two teenage girls bouncing around in their room — like we know all teenage girls do — when they have a great idea: let’s go bleach our faces!! Yeah! So they head to the bathroom and have just a lovely time. So much so that after it’s all done they are kicking and punching the air. “Isn’t it great to have pale skin!”
The one the wife cites is a bit more subversive, as it and the music seem to suggest that it’s fairness and not the woman’s ability that gets her a job and success. And her parents are so proud: “I always knew she’d be fair and lovely … and successful.” The latter being keenly tied to the former.
It is, as pointed out above, the great irony that women of color seem to want to get white, while white women are desperate to have a nice glowing tan. And in between are cosmetic manufacturers making a killing.
Haha thats a great one Natasha, I actually think about this every single time the ad comes up. It really is racism at its core.. Why the hell would anyone even make a “natural fairness cream”? Haha, I’m actuallyone of the people who splurges on tanning creams and a shade darker foundations to get a better color..
Back to Fair and zeft, making things even worse, their ads are absolutely crap… Who remembers “Marwaaaaa? Da ba2a wejek 7elu 2awi wo mnawar! akeed fi ser!”
YEEEEEEEEEY! I cringe just remembering…
I even hear about fairness among arabs in America. gosh thats bad. So this lotion actualluy makes you lighter? how in the hell does it do that? does it have bleach or something? oh lordy. Someone should not only ban this ad for its message, but probably also for its ingredients.
But you guys know what the “khattabat” always look for: taweeleh w beitha w shaqra! If a stunning brunette does not use “Fair & Lovely” she’ll most probably t3annis, and the only way for her to marry would be to “tfoot dorra” to some elderly fat hajjeh. You don’t want that to happen do you?
Excellent remarks, Natasha. “Fair And Lovely” is a major one amongst a group of despicable products known as “fairness lotions,” available in markets all over the Indian sub-continent. I’ve been very intrigued about how in Bangladesh fair brides are always sought for marriage and fair babies are always “oh sooo cute: look how fair!!” I even had several verbal fights with family and friends about such pervasive racism within ourselves. But I thought this was only true of South Asians: I did’t know similar problems exist in Arab communities.
There’s something really weird about that ad. I think it’s the music. It makes you think you’re watching a film trailer for some tragic epic, and then they give you skin cream.
lol good one Natasha 🙂
My Arabic ads are outdated, but I prefer the fair and lovely ad that went something like.. there are two sisters and the one that used fair and lovely got married while the other didn’t. hehe anyone remember that one?
Arabs are obsessed with fairness, and in the west being pale and untanned is a shame so no one’s happy with their skin tone.
Happy Friday everyone 🙂
Yea, Ziad, that oughta scare them!
Natasha, I share your feelings. Talk about playing on women’s fears and desires. Find out who created this ad! Time to receive who we are and be glad than to always long for what we weren’t created to be. You could do the anti-thesis of this ad: Jordanian exotic beauty gets the journalism job and the great guy by being who she is, full stop!
Can’t believe that in one half of the world women risk the health of their skin on this whitening junk and on the other half they risk skin cancer to get a darker color!
I heard that Jordan is requiring cigarette makers to put a warning on their packages including the picture of smoke-damaged lungs. The makers of this cream should be required to add a warning on the package with a picture of Michael Jackson.