India-based Banjara’s marketing campaign rejects traditional narrative of darker skin

India-based herbal skincare brand Banjara’s has introduced a marketing campaign that rejects the idea that darker skin tone is not socially attractive in the country.

This campaign is called ‘Be Fair to your loved ones, stop asking them to be FAIR’.

Earlier this month, it released a video that highlights the traditional focus on skin colour discrimination.

This online video has so far been able to generate more than 2.5 million views, thereby indicating that company could seize a marketing opportunity with its products due to shift in social perception on fairness.

Banjara’s managing director Ramesh Vishwanathan was quoted by Cosmeticsdesign.com as saying: "The focus of skin products should be on healthy skin and not skin lightening."

Other personal care brands too are making similar moves. Dove recently launched its Real Beauty campaign in India, which focuses on natural beauty rather than on fair skin tone while Emami introduced a grooming brand that shuns the traditional perception of how men should look.

Skin lightening has been a huge market for cosmetics companies in Asia as skin tone has been linked to social ranking and ageing.