Name: Redwan Ahmed

ID: 1610428630

Question 1. Is it ethical to sell a product that is, at best, only mildly effective? Discuss.

Answer: It is unethical to sell products to customers which are only mildly effective. A business
is socially responsible to the general public and they have to maintain business standard. But
selling a product which is will not provide any noticeable outcome with a promise that the
product will provide outcome according to the expectation of the customer is unethical. It
shows that the company is irresponsible towards the general public and lacks integrity.

In this case, Fair & Lovely, a fairness cream product of HLL was advertised in way that this
product will miraculously make a person fairer than their previous state. They labeled the
product as “Miracle Worker” and claimed that it can deliver one to three shades of change in
skin tone. This is a huge promise by the company. They advertised the product accordingly but
their advertisement campaign lacked customer evaluation. The effect of the product was very
mild as Indian dermatologists said that fairness products do not actually work as they only
reach the upper layer of the skin and do not make any change in the deeper level. Also, a lady
claimed that she has been using it for 8 years but still she cannot notice any difference. These
matters show that the product is mildly effective and do not serve the promise given by the
company. This is an unethical practice of the company to sell a product that cannot provide
outcome properly.

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Name: Redwan Ahmed
ID: 1610428630

Question 2. Is it ethical to exploit cultural norms and values to promote a product?

Discuss.

Answer: In my perspective, the answer of this question varies. If a company uses a good culture
of a society to promote a product, that action will be ethical. When a company expands their
business in another region, they have to do a lot of research to know the culture of that
particular region. Later, some companies use this cultural knowledge to promote their product.
If the company is using a good culture to promote their product, it is ethical for them to do so
because it will make the customer grow attachment with the company and spread a positive
norm among the general public.

On the other hand, it will be unethical if the company exploits a bad culture to promote their
product. This case study is an example of it. HLL promoted their product by exploiting a bad
culture of India. The AIDWA pressed charges against HLL’s Fair & Lovely product for exploiting
Indian cultural norms. This kind of cultural exploitation is unethical for any business because it
shows the lack of integrity towards the general public.

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Name: Redwan Ahmed
ID: 1610428630

Question 3. Is the advertising of Fair & Lovely demeaning to women, or is it promoting

the fairness cream in a way not too dissimilar from how most cosmetics are promoted?

Answer: The advertising of Fair & Lovely was very demeaning to women. It is very noticeable if
we analyze their advertisement. “Fairer girl gets the boy” themed ad series is inarguably a
demeaning factor towards the women because sends a message that a darker skin toned girl is
less likely to get the boy. Another advertisement had many demeaning factors in it. It showed
that a son is more likely to earn for the family than a girl which is gender biasness. Also, the
darker skin toned girl could not get a good job but when she got fairer, she got a very good job.
This is clear racism. These are all examples of demeaning women.

On the other hand, most cosmetics are usually promoted in the same manner. All the
advertisements focus on beauty and success. In that way, the advertisement of Fair & Lovely
was quite similar with a typical cosmetic advertisement. But, the Fair & Lovely advertisement
showed too much racism and gender biasness which was clearly demeaning to women.

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Name: Redwan Ahmed
ID: 1610428630

Question 6. Propose a promotion/marketing program that will counter all the arguments
and charges against Fair & Lovely and be an effective program.

Answer: My proposal for a marketing plan to counter all the arguments and charges is to
reposition the product in a new way.

First of all, the company needs to do a market research to understand the mistakes they have
made and the upcoming steps they should take. After that, they have heavily advertise the
product is a different way. HLL should reposition their product as a skin care product rather
than an instrument to make someone fairer. They should deliver the message that their product
will make them bright not fair. To reposition the product, they have the change the name of the
product first. The word “Fair” has to be gone from the name because it shows that you have to
be fair to be lovely. After properly naming their product, they have to arrange a relaunching
program of their product with the new name and new functionality. Later on, a series of
advertisements should be aired by the company to make educate their customer about this new
name and functionality of this product. They should use darker skin toned models to do some
advertisements to give a message that they are not demeaning any woman by their skin color.
This repositioning campaign’s success highly depends on the fact that they have to give a clear
message to everyone that they care for the society and respects a darker skin toned woman
equally as a fairer skin toned woman.