Patanjali may be a wildly successful business venture and the way that its revenues have skyrocketed in just a few years may be the stuff of corporate wet dreams. However, there are several reasons why the brand, as well as its products, have uncomfortable questions to answer. Patanjali has even previously been accused of misleading consumers and has also been accused of regressive, sexist advertising. Now Patanjali is again in the news; this time for an ad that calls dark skin an ‘ailment’.
The advert urges you to “save your soft skin” by using a range of products such as anti-wrinkle cream, lip balm, body lotion, foot creams and moisturisers. The beauty cream promises to be “extremely beneficial for skin ailments like dark complexion and wrinkles".
This commentator made things clear while taking a dig at Tarun Vijay, a minister who had previously inadvertently revealed his highly colourist mindset on a very public platform.
Because of the backlash that the ad prompted, Baba Ramdev issued a clarification, that the term ‘complications’ was originally approved; that it got changed to ‘ailments’ inadvertently. So the term ‘skin complication’ is less offensive than ‘skin ailment’? Rrright!
If someone is selling something that purports to ‘benefit’ any ‘ailment’, surely that seller ought to be demonstrably free from that ‘ailment’.
Ancient Indians always thought of dark skin as beautiful, and glowing tributes were always paid to the beauty of the dark-skinned deities of the Hindu pantheon.
One tweet pointed out that it is strange how a brand that purports to offer a pure and Indian alternative to MNC products is doing exactly what these companies have been doing: framing dark skin as a ‘problem’ that needs solutions.
Many women denounced the ad by owning their beautiful skin and rejecting the regressive marketing tactics of Patanjali.
Though many treated the ad with the contempt it deserved, others appeared to be clearly offended and thought that the ad degraded the swadeshi movement as well as Indians.
Pretty much every ‘fairness cream’ ad is regressive, colourist and offensive. Most of the ads try to convince us about the superiority of light skin and how by using their products women and men would become more successful and happier in general.
We Indians are terribly colour conscious and racist in the extreme. The poor treatment meted out to Africans and at times the outright hostility and violence they are subjected to, as well as the way people from the North East of our own country, points to an acutely racist mindset of many Indians. Surely the Patanjali ad merely reflects what we Indians, in our heart of hearts actually believe. Unfortunately though!
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