Objections to Indian Ad Not Taken Lightly

In this activity, we focus on the issues inherent in cultural diversity and explore the changing social norms and its affect on advertising. The local market characteristics that affect the advertising and promotion of products in India had great consequences for the subsidiary of Unilever. The strengths and weaknesses of sales promotions and public relations, the need to modify advertising so as to make it effective, and the communication process will similarly be considered.

The problems associated with communicating to people in diverse cultures present one of the great creative challenges in advertising. Communication is more difficult because cultural factors largely determine the way various phenomena are perceived.

Read the case below and answer the questions that follow.

A financially strapped father laments his fate, saying, "Kaash agar mera beta hota" ("If I only had a son"), while his dark-skinned, plain-Jane daughter looks on, helpless and demoralized because she cannot bear the financial responsibility of her family. Fast-forward and plain Jane has been transformed into a gorgeous, light-skinned woman through the use of a "fairness cream." Now clad in a miniskirt, the woman is a successful flight attendant and can take her father to dine at a five-star hotel. She's happy, and so is her father. All's well that end's well—except not so for Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL). The company, a subsidiary of Unilever, launched this television campaign to promote its Fair & Lovely fairness cream in India. It withdrew the campaign two months later amid severe criticism for its portrayal of women. The incident underscores the changing social mores in India and highlights tensions among the government, consumer groups, and industry regulatory agencies.While tanning is the rage in Western countries, skin lightening treatments have been historically popular in Asia. The Japanese market for such products is estimated to be around $6 billion and in India about $150 million.It may be safe for the skin, but not for society, says the All India Women's Democratic Association. Three things were objectionable about the campaign to the group. It was racist, it promoted preferences for sons, and it was insulting to working women. A government ministry found the ads to be in violation of the Cable and Television Act of 1995, which in part forbids ads that "deride any race, caste, color, creed, and nationality." Industry regulators agreed and pressured the company to stop airing the ad. The company admitted no wrongdoing, but complied.

Sources: Arundhati Parmar, "Objections to Indian Ad Not Taken Lightly," Marketing News, June 9, 2003, pp. 4–5; Heather Timmons, "Telling India's Modern Women They Have Power, Even over Their Skin Tone," The New York Times, May 30, 2007, p. C5.

Hindustan Lever Ltd. is a subsidiary of _____.

Unilever

Procter & Gamble

the L’oreal Group

Nestle

Johnson & Johnson

Why was Hindustan Lever Ltd., forced to withdraw the ad campaign for its fairness cream, Fair & Lovely, in India?

Consumers sued the company for the use of toxic ingredients in its products.

It did not have a sufficient budget to run the entire campaign.

It incurred high unexpected costs at the onset of its marketing campaign.

It received severe criticism for its portrayal of women.

Its television campaign did not reach out to a wide enough audience.

Which of the following, if assumed to be true, would suggest that a fairness cream like Fair and Lovely is unlikely to do well in the West?

Western countries have a huge market for skin care products.

There is an increasing demand for skin lightening treatment in the West which is encouraging new firms to enter this market.

The manufacturer of Fair and Lovely is a subsidiary of the well-known multinational consumer goods company, Unilever.

As opposed to Asian cultures, tanning is the rage in Western countries.

Asian women like using skin lightening treatment and the number of Asian immigrants in the West is steadily increasing.

Why was Hindustan Lever’s fairness cream ad opposed by the Indian government?

The fairness cream contained chemicals which caused skin eruptions after use.

The ad was in violation of the Cable and Television Act of 1995.

The company did not conduct enough tests to ensure the safety of products for use by humans.

The ad portrayed Indian women as being employed and independent.

The product was in fact unable to help women to have a lighter skin tone as the ad proclaimed.

Hindustan Lever’s Fair and Lovely fairness cream ad was opposed by the All India Women's Democratic Association. Which of the following was a reason behind the resistance?

The advertisement indicated preferences for daughters over sons.

The advertisement promoted the idea of women being independent.

The Fair and Lovely fairness cream was unsafe for use.

The advertisement promoted racism.

The advertisement criticized skin lightening treatments.