Skin cream fairly profitable in India
India's launch of Fair & Handsome skin-lightening cream three years ago has started a boom for male grooming products throughout the country. Raymond Thibodeaux explores the link between status and lighter skin and how it translates to profits.
Indian actor Surya holds up a bottle of Fair & Handsome cream, purported to lighten dark skin within weeks. (YouTube)
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Indian male with lighter skin after four weeks of using Fair & Handsome cream
TEXT OF STORY
Bill Radke: In the U.S., beauty supplies are pretty much considered a woman's domain. In India's $20 billion a year grooming industry, the ads are increasingly directed at men. One of the popular male beauty products: skin lightener. From New Delhi, Raymond Thibodeaux reports.
Raymond Thibodeaux: In this TV ad, a 20-something Indian guy is out on the town, but finds himself rejected by several women, all with lighter skin than his. To his rescue comes Bollywood's biggest star, Shah Rukh Khan, with a bottle of Fair & Handsome skin-lightening cream.
The man applies the cream and -- ta-da! -- four weeks later, he's a few shades lighter, smiling and confident, and now the women are very interested.
Meenal Patel: In India and in much of South Asia, people here want to look more fair, because fairness is linked to status and prosperity, definitely.
Meenal Patel is an analyst for the Indian Council for Market Research:
Patel: Such ads basically portray that you'll get the girl, you'll get the car, you'll get the money, you'll get the proper lifestyle -- all because the skin is lighter.
Patel says the launch of Fair & Handsome skin-lightening cream three years ago started a boom for male grooming products. Ernest & Young research showed that so-called "manscaping" products were among India's fastest-growing consumer sectors, averaging about 20 percent annual growth. Sales of skin lighteners for men have leapt 150 percent in the small cities and rural areas.
Che Kurrien is editor of GQ India magazine, which launched last year:
Che Kurrien: A certain number of Indian men have always pampered themselves. Add to that a growing number of Indian men who have always wanted to splurge on themselves but couldn't afford to. Now they can.
Foreign beauty suppliers are cashing in. European giants Nivea, L'Oreal and Garnier are jumping into the market. Proctor & Gamble has announced plans to expand its Indian presence. And many luxury hotel chains in India now offer spas and salons for men -- with pedicures, body waxing and a manly-sounding "rock facial." Mmmm, could be a hard sell.
In New Delhi, I'm Raymond Thibodeaux for Marketplace.
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From Jamaica, NY, 09/11/2009
In a word: Pathetic!!! Primitive notions of color, beauty and superiority are deeply rooted in Asian cultures. The backward and ignorant concept that fair skin is equivalent to soft and good looking; while dark skin equals ugly and dump, is very common place. In fact, the idiocy of this nonsensical thinking goes unchallenged. All one has to do is visit Thailand. Within minutes you will be bombarded with skin whitening commercials and advertisements. In most of these regions, overt racism and discrimination against dark people is the norm. It is so indoctrinated into the mindset of the masses; most dark people simply accept their unfair treatment without ever considering mass revolt. It goes without saying that only fair skin people can be leaders, managers, actors, models, and such. One Thai friend told me, he must use skin whitening cream in order to land a job. Attaching pictures to a resume is one way to filter out all the �ugly ogres.� I can�t count how many times I have been told by dark skin Thais, �I am dark, is it okay?� To ask such a question, suggest being brainwashed from birth that dark skin is wrong and fair skin is right. It absolutely amazes me that many people seem incapable of discussing the biology behind human skin color. One educated Thai told me he never heard of melanin. One more point, for those who prefer to hold onto archaic viewpoints, skin color is determined by the amount and type of melanin, the pigment in the skin. Human skin color can range from almost black (due to very high concentrations of the dark brown pigment melanin) to nearly colorless (appearing reddish white due to the blood vessels under the skin) in different people. Variation in skin color is largely due to genetics. As a general pattern people with ancestors from tropical regions (hence greater sunlight exposure) have darker skin than people with ancestors from subtropical regions. This is far from a hard and fast rule however, because many light skinned groups have managed to survive at the equator by way of social adaptation. The same can be said of dark skinned groups living at subtropical latitudes.
From houston, TX, 07/28/2009
I would like to hear real business news. I am of Indian origin and any news of the land of my birth peeks my interest, I would rather hear non celebrity / gossip type news. We have TV for garbage. Lets keep up the Marketplace's good analysis and keep down TV news.
From Brooklyn, NY, 07/28/2009
when are we going to WAKE UP and stop this self-destruction and self-mutilation to become white! this idea that being white OR "lighter" is better, prettier, smarter etc. has been planted in our brains to make us feel "less than" another human being based on skin color. WAKE UP INDIA!
what a great message to send our children. please don't support these corporations who demonstrate a lack of social responsibility by putting these products in the marketplace. WAKE UP!
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From Decatur, GA, 07/28/2009
I found it striking - and indicative of Marketplace's CNBC-like lack of commitment to serious financial reporting - that you devoted half this morning's report to this fluff piece. On the other hand, the permanent banning of short selling on Wall Street was barely mentioned, despite the fact that it is a real story that could bear some investigation (Who lobbied for this? Who benefits? Who loses?).
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