More than half of respondents in a global survey said using “normal” to describe hair or skin made them feel excluded.
Unilever, the conglomerate behind Dove soap and other bath and beauty products, has said it will stop using the word “normal” in its packaging, in addition to making digital changes to the bodies and skin color of the models used in their advertising in an attempt a push to be more inclusive.
The move from the London-based company, which is one of the world’s largest advertisers, comes as it tries to overcome the reaction it has experienced in some of its advertising campaigns.
Unilever was forced to change the name of its best-selling skin lightening brand in India to “Fair & Lovely” from “Fair & Lovely” last year after facing the consumer anger over negative stereotypes of darker skin tones.
In 2017, the company faced a clamor on social media for an ad about Dove body wash, which showed a black woman taking off her top to reveal a white woman.
More recently, he had to remove all of his TRESemmé hair care products from South African retail stores for ten days due to a backlash against an advertisement.
“We know that removing the ‘normal’ alone will not solve the problem, but we believe it is an important step towards a definition of more inclusive beauty,” Sunny Jain, president of the division, told Reuters news agency of Unilever beauty and personal care.
Globally, more than a hundred Unilever brands will remove the word “normal” to describe skin type or hair texture and replace it with terms like “gray hair” for shampoos or moisture replenishment. ”For skin creams in March next year.
Unilever said a survey of about 10,000 people around the world showed that more than half of respondents felt “normal” to describe their hair or skin as making people feel excluded. that 70 percent said the use of the word in advertising had a negative effect.
The company also said it would stop digitally altering the body shape, size, proportion and skin tones of models appearing in its own ads or in those of its payment influencers of all its brands, a movement that began with the Dove brand in 2018.