NEW DELHI:
A Vaseline face whitening application for Facebook in India has sparked an online controversy and pushed the racially-loaded issue of skin colour into the spotlight.
Anglo-Dutch skincare group Vaseline launched the application "Transform Your Face on Facebook" to promote its range of skin-lightening products for men, advertised by Bollywood star Shahid Kapoor.
It enables users to digitally whiten their profile pictures and remove dark spots - an idea that has evoked a largely negative response in the blogosphere since news broke earlier this week.
"Vaseline's latest marketing campaign, largely targeted at south Asia but accessible globally, will probably make you uncomfortable," wrote Alexis Madrigal on the website of The Atlantic.
"Modern humans' desire to make their skin darker or lighter is an icky reminder of the pigment-o-cracy that exists in many countries."
The market for skin-lightening cream in India is estimate to be worth about 500 million dollars a year by market research group Nielsen. Sales of products for men grew by 25 percent last year and by 17% for women.
The first cream for women was launched 27 years ago, while the Indian cosmetics group Emami was the first to see potential in the male market in 2005 when it launched "Fair and Handsome" with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
"The adverts play with the minds of men," Radhakrishnan Nair, the message they send is: 'If you have fair skin, you will get a good job, a promotion and a beautiful and faithful wife'."
In 2009, a poll of 12,000 people by Shaadi.com, revealed that skin tone was considered the most important criteria when choosing a partner when choosing a partner in three northern Indian states.
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