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Iruka Nnakwe
Professor Ruccio
ENGL 1101
10 October 2014
Fair and Loveless
Tears coat her white pillow sheets. Her father sits at the table holding a mug of coffee,
slightly regretful, knowing that he has caused his daughter’s current sadness. However, he knows
he is not the ultimate cause of her suffering. “If only we had a son,” he says. “If only she wasn’t
so dark,” her society says. Fair and Lovely seeks to end the suffering of dark-skinned Indian
women just like her. The whitening cream company claims that its products can transform
unappealing and socially-degraded dark skin into radiant and socially-praised light skin. The
company claims it can transform this weeping girl into a confident airhostess in its Airhostess
cream commercial, or mystically grant a dark-skinned girl a successful modeling career in a
latter Ayurvedic cream commercial. While this company’s advertisements further bolster its
current success in the marketplace, they also concurrently erode the chances of achieving societal
change for its customers. Fair and Lovely’s advertisements use mesmerizing cinematography,
historically cultural values, and relatable narratives consisting of despair in darkness and triumph
in lightness to successfully facilitate ethos and pathos, thus leading to the prosperous marketing
of its product; however, the company unsuccessfully administers logos since its advertisements
do not provide a realistic solution to the issue of colorism in India.
Of the three most common rhetorical strategies, Fair and Lovely’s advertisements utilize
pathos to the greatest extent through compelling cinematography. In the Airhostess cream
commercial, the use of melancholic music in the background, while the girl witnesses her
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father’s disproval and then proceeds to cry on her bed, effectively depicts the sadness that she
feels. The music, however, changes immediately into an upbeat and slightly heroic tune as the
Fair and Lovely advertisement plays on her bedroom television. The music’s resolution from
melancholic to light and reassuring, coordinated with the presentation of the advertisement,
evokes the idea that the use of this product can be the solution the audience has been in search of.
The transition from sad music to happy music is also used in the Ayurvedic cream commercial as
the girl transitions from being rejected by the modeling company to being openly accepted after
the use of the product. Loud, energetic music with an ethnic styling is also used in the Ayurvedic
cream commercial when her father mystically presents the components of the product, giving the
cream a sense of magical reverence. Pathos is also applied through the lighting used in the
advertisements. In the Airhostess cream commercial, the lighting is dark when the girl is
depressed and suffering with the apparent curse of dark skin, but quickly turns vibrantly bright
when she finally bears the benefits of using the product: lighter skin. The use of the families in
the advertisements is also a successful utilization of pathos. In both the Airhostess cream and
Ayurvedic cream commercials, the narratives present the whitening cream as a way to enable
better family relations, which can appeal to all parents, but perhaps especially mothers, who care
about the state of the happiness of their loved ones.
The use of families in the narratives also successfully facilitate ethos, especially through
the fathers. In both commercials, the daughter receives love and approval from her father after
she uses the product. Indian culture, being traditionally patriarchal, reveres fatherly approval in
life decisions. Therefore, the content the fathers provide is bolstered by a sense of patriarchal
credibility inherent in the Indian culture. The narratives, though specific, are also relatable. Darkskinned girls deal with the same body image and social pressures that the female actresses
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struggle with in the advertisements. The relatability supports the credibility of the product since
the situational plots in the advertisements are not fictional in the lives of their customers. The
acceptance of the girls into successful employment in the commercials also increases the
credibility of the product. The most powerful use of ethos can be seen during the Ayurvedic
cream commercial when the father opens a scroll to present the product. The historical, cultural,
and reverential aspects of the product’s presentation give the product supernatural credibility.
Unfortunately, Fair and Lovely’s administration of logos is the least powerful. The issue
of colorism has affected Indian culture for centuries and the products do not logically resolve this
issue. Fair and Lovely’s products provide a temporary solution to an ancient and persistent
problem. Even if women of one generation successfully lighten their skin, the next generation
will still struggle under the same societal conditions. The most effective and logical method of
dissolving colorism is to promote beauty in all skin tones because it results in the most longlasting, and hopefully one day, permanent change. Therefore, Fair and Lovely’s decision to
empower colorism instead of destroying it is illogical and additionally detrimental.
In conclusion, though Fair and Lovely’s effective use of ethos and pathos successfully
persuades costumers to purchase its products, the company’s absence of logos curtails its
capabilities to potentially improve Indian society. Colorism will continue to be an issue in India,
and throughout the world, until it is openly rejected by institutions of societal influence. With its
national popularity, Fair and Lovely could provide positive ads that empower women of all skin
tones while continuing to pursue innovation in skincare. However, by choosing to profit off a
destructive response to the issue of colorism in India, Fair and Lovely’s commercials only
further inhibit the possibility of dark-skinned Indian women engaging in self-acceptance, which
leaves them neither fair nor lovelyin the eyes of society, but fair and loveless.
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Works Cited
Airhostess Cream/Fair and Lovely. YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2014.