Unilever has it’s fair share of controversy and to become more inclusive they’ll be removing the word normal from its beauty and personal care products and they’ll also, stop the use of digital alterations to body shapes and skin used in their advertising.
As you know, Dove, one of Unilever brands, suffered severe backslash after releasing an insensitive commercial for Dove Body Wash where a black woman removed her top to reveal a white woman. Truly the commercial made little sense and some rightfully felt that the commercial implied that dark was somehow dirty and white was somehow clean.
But I’m not sure dropping “normal” from their advertising is going to right such wrongs.
Apparently normal will be replaced in skin and hair products and replaced with words like “grey hair” for hair care products or “moisture replenish” for skin care. I think the hair care portion makes some sense however, if you have normal skin you have normal skin…does that make sense? To me normal skin is perfect skin. Not dry, not oily, free from blemishes, not sensitive, and pretty much without the woe and worry some of us experience if we’re oily or dry or have blemishes or visible pores. I don’t think normal is an offensive term when referencing skin care and I don’t think dropping the word from a skincare product will make me feel like you’re making things more inclusive.
That being said I could be the minority as Unilever conducted a poll with results revealing people agreeing that “normal” made them feel excluded. I don’t personally feel that way. I am in agreement with their plan to stop using alterations in advertisements such as using photoshop to smooth skin and give us the illusion of perfections.
What do you think about removing “normal” from skin care?
Would you find it confusing if you were a normal skin type and suddenly skincare failed to address that type in their marketing?
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