Did Alife Miss The Mark With Its Beauty Filter
In the era of inclusivity and acceptance, it is disheartening to witness women being conditioned to believe in the unrealistic standards of beauty set by society. Recently, AWC launched a new TVC campaign for Alife soap titled ‘ab chaleyga khoobsurati ka jadoo’ showcasing fairness and beauty for women through their product.
The campaign extends the notion of fair skin being more appealing and desirable in women. It creates an unrealistic beauty standard that marginalises individuals with darker skin tones. This restricted emphasis on fairness destroys the diversity and natural beauty of women that exist in every skin tone, reinforcing colourism as well.
The TV commercial revolves around people who are left stunned by the beauty of a girl who uses Alife Soap. The commercial also portrays that a woman’s beauty which is linked to her fair skin tone is the most desirable to a man who is drooling over the beauty of the female lead in it. The advertisement goes on to highlight the superior quality and value proposition of the product which makes the women more appealing in terms of a fair skin tone.
The idea of Alife Soap’s campaign highlights the harmful implications of beauty standards set for women in society. It is saddening to see campaigns contributing to a limited definition of beauty. The campaign conveys a damaging message to women, particularly those with darker skin tones, leading to insecurity and self-doubt in one’s skin. Their self-worth here is being decided by others' perceptions of them.
Such marketing campaigns prey on insecurities and self-doubt by creating a cycle of unattainable beauty goals. Moreover, it also amplifies colourism, leading to discrimination. The focus on fairness as a beauty standard ignores the overall worthiness and personality of individuals with diverse skin tones and depreciates them from a world where their uniqueness and individualism should be celebrated.
In a time of inclusivity and acceptance, brands should focus on marketing campaigns prioritising authenticity and self-acceptance instead of unrealistic beauty standards. Embracing the beauty of diverse skin tones should rather empower women to feel comfortable and confident in their skin. The campaign of Alife soap defines the ideal unattainable beauty standards wherein they could have contributed to redefining beauty norms with their recent product launch with their TVC commercial.
However, seems like, with such campaigns, authenticity, inclusivity, and self-acceptance aren’t as appealing as a woman with a fair skin tone. It presents a regressive notion of our society set for women in terms of characterising their take on beauty.
Being dark-skinned shouldn't give anyone an inferiority complex, and being fair doesn't make anyone more beautiful. All skin colours and tones are attractive in their way and should be celebrated every day.
