Unilever plans to stop using the word “normal” on the packaging of its beauty products in an effort to make its brand more inclusive.
The London-based brand owner, including Dove, Ax and Vaseline, announced the decision on Tuesday after conducting a survey that showed that describing hair or skin as “normal” makes consumers feel left out.
Unilever also said it will stop digitally changing the skin color, body shape and size of the models that appear in its ads, while increasing the number of ads with people from “underrepresented” groups.
“We are committed to combating harmful norms and stereotypes and shaping a broader and more inclusive definition of beauty,” said Sunny Jain, president of beauty and personal care at Unilever, in a statement. “We know that removing the ‘normal’ from our products and packaging will not solve the problem alone, but it is an important step forward.”
Unilever said it conducted a survey of 10,000 people in nine countries where seven out of 10 respondents said that using the word “normal” on product packaging and ads “has a negative impact”, a rate that has risen to eight out of 10 between 18 to -35 years of age.
Unilever made the change after facing several controversies over how its brand ads portrayed people of color.
Violent protests broke out in South Africa last September, after an advertisement for the TRESemmé hair products brand labeled images of black women’s hair as “curly and opaque”, while describing the hair of white women as “thin and straight” and “normal”.
This came after Unilever’s Indian business said it would change the name of its skin lightening cream from “Fair & Lovely” to “Glow & Lovely” amid concerns that the old brand perpetuated stereotypes against darker skin tones.
Dove also drew attention in 2017 because of an ad that appeared to show a black woman pulling a T-shirt over her head to reveal a white woman underneath.
Unilever is one of the largest advertisers in the world and its beauty products are the basis of its business. The beauty and personal care segment accounted for about $ 25 billion of the nearly $ 60 billion in revenue that Unilever released last year.
Unilever shares rose about 1.1 percent in Tuesday’s premarket, to $ 54.55 as of 8:20 am
With Post Wires