LAHORE- The obsession with fairness is widespread across South Asia, an unfavourable remnant of our colonial past. Every third commercial on tv provokes the desi viewer to feel more uncomfortable in his or her skin tone, advertisements for ‘whitewashing’ products silently breed low self-esteem in large batches.
While the “gora craze” plagues our people in general, celebs should know better than to endorse fairness creams.
Recently, Sajal Ali starred in a Fair & Lovely ad and received criticism on her choice to do so. Though the commercial does not directly focus on fairness, all the women appearing are fair-skinned and the before and after comparison implies that the glow is a consequence of fair skin.
Pakistani Twitter users swiftly responded to the ad, by showing their disappointment in the actor’s choice of brand endorsement.
https://twitter.com/grimorgray/status/1118842256360923138
https://twitter.com/pkpopculture/status/1114599790870958081
https://twitter.com/chintuandbunty/status/1115917899464679424
https://twitter.com/thatkarachigirl/status/1116274188858417157
https://twitter.com/mansal_/status/1114932286896726018
Apart from Sajal Ali other celebrities like Ainy Jafri, Mawra Hocane, Saira Shehroz have also endorsed fairness brands in the past. It’s about time celebs realised the amount of social responsibility they carry as role models for people who look up to them.
At a time when Pakistan is struggling with colourism and a gora complex, the last thing we need is brands and celebrities that encourage this colour divide.
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