Boycott Unilever/Dove July 15, 2007
Posted by Mrs Flipphead in Campaign for Real Beauty, Dove, Unilever, boycott, racism.trackback
I found a post on Reclaiming space. It set off a whole slew of emotions for me.
It’s related to a product called Fair & Lovely, which a skin lightener. The parent company is Unilever. The subsidiary selling the Fair & Lovely is Hindustan Unilever you can verify this by going to the following website: www.hll.com The following link has an article about the reaction of Indian women to the product. http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1308/context/archive.
Someone on YouTube commented that Unilever also owns Dove (you know, the “Campaign for Real Beauty”)?! I am outraged that a company who would be touting a higher moral ground in this country as a marketing ploy, is promoting racism and poor self image to women in other countries. We need to take a stand against this.
If someone else has beat me to it, well I apologize for my ignorance and I applaud your cause.
According to Unilever’s website: www.unilever.com, it’s products include:
Axe
Becel
Flora
Bertolli
Blue Band
Country Crock
Doriana
Rama
Cif
Comfort
Domestos
Dove
(A logo with a heart inside a heart that I don’t know what product it represents. Please check the website to see the logos of the products so you will be familiar with them.)
Hellman’s
Amora
Calvé
Knorr
Lifebouy
Lipton
Lux
Omo
Pond’s
Radiant
Rexona
Signal
Closeup
Slimfast
Surf
Vaseline
Not listed on the website for reasons I don’t understand is Lever 2000 soap. I would bet there are others. (Update: Suave products are also made by Unilever. I will keep updating this as I find them). So please check the backs of your packages. It is an easy to identify logo that you can see on their website.
I’m calling for a boycott of Unilever, the parent company. Which is going to hurt a little, because I use the Dove facial products. I’m not usually a boycott kind of person, at least not the proposing a boycott kind of person. I gave up tuna along with a lot of other people, but frankly I don’t know what I’m doing here, so just help me out, humor me and pass the word.
I must do this as the parent of a child of color, as a female and as a member of the human race. I don’t know how this works, but pass the word. I don’t care how, just make sure people know about this issue. This is wrong on so many levels that I am just flabbergasted by their duplicity and audacity!
This whole issue breaks my heart. You need to watch the “Girl Like Me” video on Reclaiming space’s post on this to know what I am talking about, but I find it very disturbing that children that young are equating the “bad” doll as the African American doll, etc.
My four year old is already talking about why his skin is “brown” and told me the other day that he wishes his skin was “white” like mine. I do not know where this is coming from because I have never talked with him about the difference in the color of our skin, until he brought it up. I have also never referred to myself as white (not during his lifetime at least). I use the term caucasian when I do reference race at all.
I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach when I went to pick my child up from preschool the other day and a caucasian boy in his class went to the only other African American child in his class and tried to tell him his mom was there by saying, “Hey, black guy! Your mom’s here.” He was only three or four, so I simply said, “He’s not my son, my little boy is over there in the red shirt.” And called out to my son to get his attention before the little boy had the chance to yell, “Hey, black guy!” at him. I don’t want my son thinking that, being called “black guy” is a bad thing, but I think he is too young to understand that it is not what he was called, but that he was referred to by his race that I have a problem with.
I had hoped that this kind of thing wouldn’t start until he was in regular school, if at all. What a fool I am. Incidentally, the other little African American boy looks nothing like my son, they aren’t even built the same or the same height, don’t have the same hair cut–nothing, except the relative color of their skin.
I find it interesting, that when I was younger, my exposure to people of other colors was limited by geography, so I had a difficult time distinguishing features just as this little boy clearly does. Though I never referred to someone by one of their features.
Now that I have friends of many colors as well as a child of a color different than mine, I do not entirely understand how I had difficulty. Except that now, many of the caucasian children look the same to me. I’m not kidding you. I have serious trouble telling them all apart. Especially the blonde ones (I’m a natural blonde BTW…well, I was until I started getting old and now I have to dye away the grays–but that’s a post for another day). The older they get, the easier it gets (maybe it’s a babies all kind of look the same thing). Of course my own children I have no problem.
I had hoped to keep him innocent of the racism that still exists in our society as long as possible. Alas, I see that beautiful time is at an end…and so young–it breaks my heart.
What’s revealing about racism is that we are four very different colors in this family, yet only one of us would be referred to as anything other than “white”.
Hey people! The actual color of your skin is less about race and more about melanin and how much ya got! And I would argue that darker skin is actually the more evolutionarily advanced skin. Without sunscreen all of us pasty people would be going extinct from skin cancer.
Good thing we have SPF 45!
Note: In response to the comments received, I have checked this out and edited my post to reflect that Unilever is not associated with L’ Oreal. But a google search reveals that Unilever is the parent company of Fair & Lovely as well as Dove. My apologies to L’ Oreal. In the future I will check my facts before posting something. It was late, I was tired.
Just a quick note – L’Oreal Paris is part of the L’Oreal group of companies, and isn’t part of Unilever. So you should be able to carry on using Elseve / Elvive / Vive without worry!
(That said, there has been some noise about L’Oreal and discrimination recently. I wrote a post about it that might help explain: http://www.shahidhussain.com/blog/?p=27)
Thanks for the link and great write-up, Mrs Flipphead (btw, the link has a double http and just needs one to be removed to work: http://
http//peoplesgeography.com/2007/07/14/ethnic-cleansing-by-loreal-because-youre-worth-less)and I am almost certain I will be joining you in the boycott. I’ve also omitted the Unilever reference, with thanks for the correction.
Good post Mrs Flipphead, I hadn’t heard of this promotion, is it just confined to the U.S.? It’s amazing in this day and age to find such overt racism and demeaning advertising copy, these multi-nationals should be leading by example not offending the decency of common people in favour of gross (and I mean gross)profits.
Shahid-You are so right. I should have checked my facts. I have done a little research and have edited my post to reflect the facts, with appropriate links. Thanks for stopping by and you have an interesting blog yourself. Very informative posts.
WalksFarWoman-Actually the commercials only seem to be in countries where brown skin is the majority. It’s glaring racism. The implication in the commercials is that if you want to be desired and successful–you need lighter skin. This kind of thinking and attitude causes women in these countries to use other chemicals-even household bleach to bleach their skin! It’s atrocious! Especially for a company that in our country is trying to seem so socially and culturally aware with their “Campaign for Real Beauty” by Dove. What hypocrites!
The first video “A Girl Like Me” is so frustrating for me because listening to their words, it sounds to me like some of these girls are confused about WHO and what they are. I don’t think it’s all from company advertising. I think it’s their families sending them mixed messages. I have a black girlfriend and when she got her gym membership, her family said, “Oh, you’re going to “work out” like the white folks now – you are trying to be white, huh?” and that made me so sad. They also told her, her whole life long that she was too dark skinned (her sister’s were much lighter) and the list goes on and on.
Where does the notion originate for them that being lighter skinned is better? I truly feel it begins in their home.
Does it come from the pages of magazines and from company advertising? Yup, some of it does. Look at all the young girls these days starving themselves to look like Hollywood stars? Someone close to me was recently taken to the hospital because her organs have started to shut down and she barely had a pulse. Thin is in. Fat is out. Blacks want to be lighter skinned and the whites want to be darker. So many white women I know spend HOURS basking in the sun to try to be darker; some even go to the tanning salons to look darker because they feel their pale white skin is ugly. Is anyone happy? My gosh, I am pale as a ghost but that’s the way God made me. I can go to the tanning beds (never have by the way) but it will just fade so I don’t bother. My nephews are Chinese and I love everything about them!
I think it’s so sad that someone sold these girls in the video (and girls all over the world) a line of b.s. about the color of their skin. Seems to me like most of it comes from within their families. What we need are Mothers and Fathers telling their children how gorgeous they are, just the way God made them! Tell them about their roots, why they should be PROUD of where they came from and how being different makes them special AND most importantly, ..we all have different backgrounds and heritages but we are all the same people – linked together in this life!
I try to teach my kids to love themselves, I encourage them to be the best person they can be and to love all of God’s people regardless of color, size, shape, etc. I remember the first time my daughter was a toddler and she was confronted with a mentally challenged child with a very different appearance. My daughter pointed and laughed. She was a TODDLER and I felt horrible for the other child. I had to explain all of these things to her and now she understands. It’s all about educating your kids. Unfortunately, some people just perpetuate ignorance and hate. I for one, will continue to teach love and acceptance in my home. I just wish we could all want that for our kids. It’d be such a better place.
In the second video for Fair and Lovely, this woman wants to be lighter, isn’t that a personal choice? I see bottles of self-tanning lotion flying off the shelves for light skinned people. I have even bought them and tried to “self tan”. I don’t see that anyone is forcing her to be lighter? If she colors her hair, are we going to criticize her and tell her that she’s trying to be something more socially acceptable? I color my hair, and I do it for myself. Almost every woman I know colors her hair, lighter, darker, some just to keep the grays at bay. I’m perplexed right now. I’m so sorry about what happed at your son’s school. How upsetting, but I admire your intelligence in that you’re not pointing fingers at little kids; sometimes they just don’t know better. I’d probably want to talk to that kid’s parents and let them that their child is yelling, “hey black guy, your mom is here”, they probably have no clue that their child is even doing that, they’d probably be mortified! I guess you touched on a subject that’s been aching in my heart. Sorry this reply post is so darn toot’n long.
You are right that a lot of this attitude does come from the parents and the culture. But my point is that the company that claims (in the U.S.) to value women of all colors, shapes and sizes (Dove-Campaign for Real Beauty) is also the same company that is taking advantage of a very sad cultural bias (not just in India, but in many other countries as well-38, if I remember correctly) and playing upon these women’s insecurities. It is the ads themselves that not just as women, but as humans, we should object to. The company pulled the ads in March, but the fact that the company would make ads such as these in the first place is the reason I feel the need to boycott them.
Why on earth would I want to support a company of liars? They clearly do not really think that all women are beautiful no matter what color, shape, etc. or they would not have gleefully preyed upon these women, charging enough money for their product that a 38 year old professional woman goes to the salon for Jolene hair creme bleach that is meant to lighten unwanted facial hair, but has it slathered all over her face to make her skin lighter, in spite of dangerous health effects. In some countries women have even used chlorine bleach with devastating, disfiguring effects.
My issue is not with the women making the choice to use a skin lightener. My issue is with the company talking out of both sides of its mouth. ‘In the U.S., we love you the way you are.’ ‘In other countries, you must be lighter–or you will remain, alone, ugly and unsuccessful.’
We hold the tobacco companies accountable for preying upon people and denying the horrible health effects of their products, but because this company’s product is about “beauty” that somehow makes it o.k.
You could make the argument that people choose to smoke cigarettes too, in spite of knowing the dangers. But it’s addictive, so people forgive people who smoke and feel sorry for them. But I would argue that personal insecurities can have just as much of a hold over a person’s decisions, causing them to do things that they wouldn’t ordinarily do.
Thanks for commenting! It’s always more interesting when a lively discussion gets going!
[...] Flipphead has called for a boycott of Unilever after reading this post at Reclaiming Space and watching A Girl Like Me (linked in both [...]
My first thought when you told of your son saying that he wished he was white like you didn’t really strike me as a ‘white/black’ issue. I simply saw it as a young kid wanting to be ‘just like’ his mom. Young kids idolize their mothers and most want to ‘be just like her’. That seemed natural to me.
In the first video, I could relate with the teenage girls. Every female (from my life views) has never been completely comfortable with their looks. I’m a pale-skinned redhead, for gosh sakes! My brother repeatedly told me that I was ugly and I was stupid enough to believe him. I hated my ghost-white skin. I hated my red hair. I felt so different. I felt like a freakin’ alien, ‘cuz I was the ONLY redhead in my school. I was even told by one kid (at a later date) that he never wanted to talk to me because he thought redheads were weird. But, even though I didn’t feel ‘beautiful’ on the outside, it didn’t change who I was on the inside. I was ‘me’ and I liked ‘me’.
Apparently other people liked me too. Eventually, that kid and I became very good friends. Eventually, I came to love my red hair; and don’t really mind the paleness of my skin anymore. It’s all about your attitude, in my opinion. I think Bella (above) stated it rather well, too, in one sentence: “It’s all about educating your kids.” That, and instilling a sense of pride and compassion and understanding; all of these make a better human being.
As for the girls (in the 1st video) feeling a sense of loss about their culture. I can understand that too. I have a Romanian and Irish heritage that I have always yearned to learn more about. My German and English heritage… eh, not so much.
The 2nd video didn’t bother me any more or less than a tanning commercial would. I agree with Bella here, too. It’s a personal choice.
The only portion of this post that shocked and appalled me was the light/dark baby doll portion of video 1. When the one little girl was asked which doll was ‘good’, then which doll was ‘bad’, and then which one looked more like her… Oh gawd! I wanted to scoop her up in my arms and hug her tight. The hesitation she showed just before picking the ‘bad’ doll as the one closely resembling her… that broke my heart. That made me want to cry. I could see that she had clearly made the connection–she knew that she was labeling herself as ‘bad’. That has to be a product of her upbringing; her surroundings; and that is so very, very wrong.
I think, if I had been in your situation with the–’hey black kid’–I would have made a point to tell this child the other child’s name, as well as your child’s name. Then, I would have spoke with the teacher/s, suggesting that it would be a good idea if they addressed this issue with the other parents. I wouldn’t approach the parents myself, unless I knew them well enough to feel comfortable with that. All too often you run into the indignant parent that believes their child is perfect. It’s best to let the preschool serve as a buffer. Just my opinion, though.
You have such a big, warm, caring heart; and it makes me smile. So ‘hugs’ to you, Mrs. Flipphead. Your children are lucky to have you for their mom.
i love this site!don’t you just hate corporations?or capitalism in general…everything i pick up these days seems to have the unilever brand on the back.maybe you can’t buy it there(i live in rome) but the italian jam brand “santa rosa” is also theirs.
[...] Maddison Doyle who doesn’t seem to have a website or I would link to it, commented on my Boycott Unilever post that Santa Rosa Italian Jam is also a product of Unilever. Not to be confused with Santa Rosa Jams [...]
I can give you few more reasons to boycott unilever and it’s products.
Finance outsource to India, IT oursourced to HP/Accenture and employees treated like crap.
xul-Thanks for the comment. It sounds like you speak from personal experience.
Unilever is great at destroying jobs too. In Pakistan, when workers at the factory where Unilever makes its Blue Band butter tried to form a trade union, they were just fired. All the workers are employed on irregular conditions and were trying to get permanent jobs. So much for human rights or contributing to the development of a country…it’s really only about profit. more info here:
http://asianfoodworker.net/?p=110
Xul – is that going to change? How many other companies are doing that? If that was the case, we’d have no banks, commercial companies, you name it…wake up and put your energy into more productive issues.
Adam-Interesting article. Just makes me that much more convinced that I’m not buying any more Unilever products.
Lulu-Just because “everyone is doing it” doesn’t make it right. If everyone had your attitude, nothing would ever get done. Just because it isn’t at the top of your priority list doesn’t mean that Xul should just give up. I notice you don’t offer any suggestions for “more productive issues”. I respect your opinion that it is a waste of time. That’s fine. There are many causes that I feel are a waste of time but are supremely important to the people who focus on them. To each his or her own. Individuals banding together to attempt to affect change is never a waste of time in my book.
even before seeing this artile, i had already shunned many cosmetic products from unilever (hindustan unilever in india).
Recently i’ve stopped using pears and dove soap. they don’t print ingredients on pears label and many groups voiced their concern for using animal fat in dove.
After reading your article i’ve realize i use none of unilever.!
virtual-Thanks for the comment. Keep checking their website though as they add new products all the time. I am continually be blindsided by things that I haven’t had to purchase in a while and then discover they are a unilever product. I am not familiar with the “pears” label. Is that marketed in the U.S.?
(I’m Indian)
You’re reading way too much into it. Light skin (or “fair” skin as an Indian would say) is considered attractive in India, so they promote a product that lightens her complexion.
Getting pissed off at this is like getting pissed off at lipstick commercials for promising unnaturally coloured lips or at weight loss commercials for promoting a thinner figure.
There’s absolutely no racial implication here. It’s just a different culture.
Hmmmm…If you say so. Preferring light skin over dark has a much different connotation in this country. What does it say to you that the company that is promoting the “light” skin is not an Indian company? Where do you think their values lie? Do you really think it’s no different than lipstick? Some of these women are using chlorine bleach on their skin and disfiguring themselves to acheive the “light” skin. I think that extends way beyond a cultural preference.