Multi-National Company Johnson and Johnson to Discontinue Its Skin Whitening Products
By: Fatima Zaidi
Photo via Ebay listing
Chicago— American multinational corporation Johnson & Johnson has announced that they will cease selling products aimed to reduce dark-spots, but have been often used by customers to lighten their skin tones.
The announcement was made on June 22nd when the company highlighted that subsidiaries Neutrogena Fine Fairness and Clean Fairness products, primarily sold in the Middle East and Asia, would no longer be advertised. Although products may still appear on the shelves, the company is working to remove links on their website to both of the brands’ products. The brand has also said in their statement that they will not produce anymore of the products.
“Conversations over the past few weeks highlighted that some product names or claims on our Neutrogena and Clean & Clear dark-spot reducer products represent fairness or white as better than your own unique skin tone,” read a company statement. “This was never our intention — healthy skin is beautiful skin.”
The announcement of the multinational team was given after several well-known brands came forward to address the rebranding of packages that have been criticized for using images displaying racist/discriminatory themes. Some brands included Cream of Wheat, Uncle Ben’s Rice and Mrs. Butterworth. Additionally, the famous Quaker Oats oatmeal brand came forward to say that they will now be retiring Aunt Jemima after acknowledging that the logo portrayed a racist stereotype.
India is a country where the advertisement of fair skin is especially prevalent. From creams, soaps, even makeup products, convenient stores all the way to major Bollywood blockbuster films have encouraged the idea of both men and women to encompass fair, glowy and clear skin. Directors in the Bollywood film industry have recently come under fire for casting actresses with fair complexions only to darken their skin tones to resemble the natural skin tones of women who live in rural villages in India; drawing criticism for “brownface.”
“(The) Subcontinent of India, with its generations of outside rulers and “visitors,” mostly being of fair complexion (Portugese, Dutch, French, Mughals, and British) resulted in Indians (or desis) putting value in the fair complexion of their rulers that they associated with power, superiority, and status,” says Dr. Inna Hussain, assistant professor and section head of laryngology at Rush University Medical Center. “This ideology was adopted by rich and poor, promoted by beauty magazines and celebrities. We as desis value being fair because those who came to rule us all those generations ago were fair.”
A review by Stylecraze, a blog dedicated to sharing tips and reviews on hair, nail and skin care, highlighted that the Neutrogena Fine Fairness serum was lightweight, contained ingredients like Vitamin B and C, evens out your skin tone and provides a healthy, radiant glow. However, one of the cons mentioned about the product is that the claim the product makes to make your skin fairer is false. It improves the complexion of the person using it, but not the overall skin tone.
“Hyperpigmentation is a dermatological condition that can result in “dark spots,” said Hussain. “Bleaching agents, such as hydroquinone, are commonly used in products that treat discoloration and hyperpigmentation. These products are largely unregulated and with little to no medical evidence supporting their claims. Some countries have even banned the use of hydroquinone (Japan, Europe, Australia),” she added.
“There are reports these products contain high levels of mercury and lead, can lead to photosensitivity, skin irritation, and even links to cancer. Although hyperpigmentation can be found after acne scarring, melasma, lentigines, the prevalence of use of these skin whitening treatments is much higher (India almost 60%, Nigeria 77%, 50% Korea/Malaysia/Philippines) to be explained solely for the use of hyperpigmentation.”
However, brands like Neutrogena and Clean & Clear aren’t the only ones that have recently faced waves of criticism for selling skin whitening products while simultaneously advocating for the Black Lives Matter movement. Unilever, a British-Dutch transactional consumer goods company, has been selling Fair & Lovely products, an infamous brand known in the Middle East and India to produce mass skin-lightening products. A petition, which currently has approximately 12,405 signatures, was created to demand the company to cease the productions of such products.
“The entire brand of skin whitening products can be seen as racist since the marketing of the products promotes “fairness” and “whiteness,” said Hussain. “The products are trying to erase away the darkness which they equate to “bad” or “unhealthy.” They don’t want you to embrace your natural beauty but instead change who you are. This is inherently discriminatory.”
Some brands have also taken it a step further to make sure diversity and inclusivity are included in their brand. Owned by Johnson & Johnson, the Band Aid company announced that they would now begin to sell bandages that would match different skin tones in an Instagram post.
However, the advertisement of the skin whitening products aren’t always directed to audiences in the Middle East or Asia. 77% of Nigerian women, according to the WHO struggle with empowering themselves due to the desire of having lighter skin, reported an article for Radiant Magazine.
“By working in the beauty industry and working with estheticians and cosmetologists and learning a lot about skin care taught me how to love my skin color and not listen to stereotypes,” said Zahra Shirazi, a rising freshman at Cuyahoga Community College. “I, personally being a South Asian woman, think the glorifying of fair skin over natural skin tones definitely puts down the mental health of young women because you feel insecure about your natural, beautiful skin tone. Products that do promote glorifying fair skin over natural skin tone should be banned.”
Many young women in India who do not have light skin tones are often assumed to be unhealthy, ill, and not beautiful. These insecurities and the pain of not meeting beauty standards run deep. Men and women are continuously investing in products that profit off of their insecurities. For many, it’s a regular occurrence in family gatherings, weddings, social events, or even a discussion between two people, the skin tone of a man and woman is brought up and commented on. Thousands of people continue to purchase products that are labeled with false advertising. Although Johnson & Johnson is one of the several brands that engage in this practice, their decision to terminate the production of such products could invoke change within other beauty corporations.