Unilever eliminates 'normal' from cosmetics adverts with new 'positive beauty vision'

The parent company of widely used products including Dove, Vaseline, Lifebuoy, Lux, Signal, Vim and many others, Unilever, has announced that it will remove the word "normal"  from all of its "beauty and personal care brands' packaging and advertising" to promote their new "Positive Beauty" vision and strategy. It ensures that the Positive Beauty vision will be successful in bringing out the new era of beauty and it will be "sustainable" for the planet. 

"Using Unilever’s world-class innovation and technology, Positive Beauty will also help to drive a transformation in how our products are designed and formulated so that they do more good for both people and the planet, deliver a superior product experience and tap into consumer trends," read the official statement. 

Unilever eliminates "normal" from its beauty brands packaging and advertising

The company said that it has decided to eliminate "normal" to challenge "narrow beauty ideals" as a small step to end "discrimination" and adding a more inclusive vision of beauty. After analyzing several studies conducted by the beauty industries, it has been identified that using "normal" to describe hair or skin has made most people feel excluded. Unilever also commissioned a study across nine countries on 10,000 people. The study found that "more than half of people (56%) think that the beauty and personal care industry can make people feel excluded." It showed that "people want to see the beauty and personal care industry focusing more on making people feel better than just looking better (74%)." Also, "more  than half of people (52%) say they now pay more attention to a company’s stance on societal issues before buying products." With its research, Unilever found "seven in ten people agree that using the word ‘normal’ on product packaging and advertising has a negative impact. For younger people – those aged 18-35 – this rises to eight in ten."

'Unilever can bring a powerful change' says company's President

Sunny Jain, President Beauty & Personal Care, Unilever, said that one billion people who are associated with Unilever can bring a powerful change in people's lives. He stated, "With one billion people using our beauty and personal care products every day, and even more seeing our advertising, our brands have the power to make a real difference to people’s lives. As part of this, we are committed to tackling harmful norms and stereotypes and shaping a broader, far more inclusive definition of beauty. We know that removing ‘normal’ from our products and packaging will not fix the problem alone, but it is an important step forward. It’s just one of a number of actions we are taking as part of our Positive Beauty vision, which aims not only to do less harm but more good for both people and the planet." 

Apart from excluding "normal" from their product campaigns, Unilever has decided not to alter "a person’s body shape, size, proportion or skin colour in its brand advertising." It will also increase the number of campaigns that will represent diverse groups. The company will focus on "end discrimination in beauty and champion inclusion." It will focus on "driving gender equity." The company ensured that it will work on "improving health and wellbeing" and will help to "protect and regenerate 1.5 million hectares of land, forests and oceans by 2030."