Complexion obsession – A comparative study of the discourse of skin colour in fairness products advertising

Indians and the realm of homosapiens for ages have obsessed over fairness as a measure jof beauty. Fairness is a predominant indicator of beauty. Fairness creams are aplenty in the market. Analysis of print advertisements of fairness creams/products clearly points to the fact that achieving fairness is equivalent or occasionally more important along with goals like marriage, professional success, financial empowerment, improved job opportunities and even personal success like improve confidence levels. Women in general are a testimony to this fact - directly or indirectly. Although the highly established truth that is all pervading states that beauty is a very personal and complex concept, the connection between beauty and fair skin continues to play a key role in major assessments in personal life. Most print advertisements adopt the method of "claims" to manipulate this principle. The following study analyses print advertisements of popular fairness creams in India on the basis of these "claims".