Look what they did to your face

A new Facebook application by a skincare brand allows users to lighten the skin tone on their profile pictures FYI asks whether its an effective marketing tool or just a cheap gimmick that reinforces racist stereotypesSkincare brand Vaseline has launched a global Facebook FB application targetted at men which allows them to lighten their profile pictures The process is fairly simple the user clicks on the link uploads his picture chooses the desired skin tone and viola The picture can then be published to the users FB page with the option of entering the sites Hall of Fame What you really look like and after using the applicationThe site has amassed over 1000 fans within a fortnight and boasts of more than 8000 active users several of whom are Indianu00a0The international media including UKbased The Guardian and USbased Wall Street Journal has articles panning the application terming it racist and unfair Critics see the move as reinforcing racist stereotypes apart from encouraging people to use products that might carry asyetunknown health risksIn comparison the Indian media has remained largely silent on the issue perhaps because we are now immune to ads promoting fairness creams especially given how most are endorsed by top Bollywood starsA statement issued by Vaseline reads Much like selftanning products in North America skinlightening products are culturally relevant in India to lighten and even out the natural skin tone The application was created for the Indian market as a culturally relevant and engaging way for Indian men to interact with this product But not everyone is ready to buy into that explanation It is demeaning to equate beauty with fairness says clinical psychologist Hvovi Bhagwagar adding that fairness is a big issue even among the educated urban populationInstead of moving away from stereotypes based on skin colour we are getting them further entrenched into our mindsets says Hvovi who predicts that at least 90 of the target audience is likely to check out the application though they might be reluctant to admit itDont forget that FB is also a major marriage market where people choose someone based on their physical appearance says Hvovi People still airbrush their pictures before sending it to prospective partners she addsWhile the reason for Indias obsession with fairness is still unclear Hvovi claims it might have taken root during the British era when power or the lack of it seemed to be solely determined by the colour of ones skinStereotypes concerning fairskinned people being more talented and capable were likely to have been encouraged at the time Today the same mindset seems to have manifested itself but in a different way Interestingly with fairness cream ads being targetted at men as well as women fairness is now being equated with success in the workplace apart from just good looksHowever discrimination is known to rear its ugly head in the job market as well I know of cases where people were rejected on the basis of their looks and skin colour There are HR managers who hire only fair people for jobs that require people to socialise observes HvoviEthical issues aside the market for fairness products is a highly lucrative one and is estimated to be worth 500 million dollars a year in India according to market research group Nielsen Last year alone sales of products for men grew by 25 and 17 for womenSo is the application likely to be a success It targets the right demographic by using a social networking site like FB to promote a product It will succeed in differentiating itself from rival products in the market says Amit Ahuja marketing professional for an Internet Service Provider But it could boomerang and the negative reactions on the site could end up damaging the brand reasons AmitFinally however what it is likely to come down to is the attention span of the audience Says Amit Audience attention is limited and people will soon move on to the next big thingUser comments from the siteTarun Sareen Simply racist we dont need your black or white criteriaManit Malhotra Yaar jab bhi me koi photo capture karta hun I clean my picture from your applicationMadhi Maran Yet another example that shows that Indians are the most racist people in the world And you thought it was the NazisKishore Jadhav Its super I love thisWhat do you think of the appSonu Sood actorWhats the use of something that will not last and is skindeep Its misguiding Be proud and comfortable in your own skinBarkha Bisht TV actorI have a dusky complexion and am against using fairness creams I had people insinuate that Id get more work if I were fairer but I have proved them wrong Facebook should scrap the applicationHarshad Karmalkar entrepreneurTo each his own but this seems like its payback time for all the men who insisted that women must be fair and never bothered looking at themselves