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Patanjali Called Dark Skin An 'Ailment' & Twitter, As Usual, Rose To The Occasion


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India's obsession with fairness and 'gora nikhaar' is nothing new. Almost every second advertisement introduces some or the other 'magical' fairness cream that promises to give you instant results. In fact, they even try to lure you with a success story, which the brand assumes you can achieve only if you have a fair skin.   

Honestly, had things been this easy, people wouldn't have spent half their lives studying or earning degrees in colleges, and then slogging their a***s off at work. They could have simply lined up in front of a cosmetic store, bought a fairness cream, use it and then credit their success to a cream that had no role whatsoever in their hard work.

Patanjali's Beauty Cream Ad Mentions 'Dark Complexion' As Skin Ailment© Pexels

But, going by the logic of beauty creams, there is only one solution to any and every problem in your life, and that is to have a fair skin. Honestly, I won't be surprised if tomorrow these beauty creams introduce themselves as “Now with a new 'immortality' feature. Just apply the cream every day on your skin and we can guarantee that you will never die and will glow like Edward Cullen.”

Having said that, no matter how weirdly creative these fairness cream ads are, nothing can beat Baba Ramdev and his Patanjali in terms of advertisements and this picture is proof. If looking down on someone for having a dark complexion wasn't bad enough, Patanjali went ahead and mentioned in its advertisement that 'dark complexion' is a kind of skin ailment. 

Patanjali's Beauty Cream Ad Mentions 'Dark Complexion' As Skin Ailment© Twitter

The advertisement read, “Possesses the benefits of wheat germ oil, turmeric, aloe-vera, and basil etc. which are extremely beneficial for skin ailments like dry skin, dark complexion and wrinkles. Patanjali beauty cream is not just another cream but is a skin nourishment topic and treatment. It gives you the confidence of 100% natural beauty. Try it yourself and suggest to your family and friends.”

It all came under notice, when a Twitter user called out Baba Ramdev and his Patanjali for writing 'dark complexion' as skin ailment. 

No Baba Ramdev... 'dark complexion' is NOT a skin ailment. Did Tarun Vijay write your ad? pic.twitter.com/laHsUVjFGL

— Karthik (@beastoftraal) January 8, 2018

For a brand that almost always starts its advertising by bad-mouthing 'those MNC companies' as looters and calls itself as '100% purity and 100% charity' (the tactic sure seems to be working for them given their spectacular success in the recent past), Patanjali seems to be

— Karthik (@beastoftraal) January 8, 2018

toeing the line of MNC beauty brands in framing dark skin as a problem. Only difference - MNC brands have, over time, become clever about how they state this in their communication. Here, Patanjali openly calls 'dark complexion' as a 'skin ailment'. This is severely ironic

— Karthik (@beastoftraal) January 8, 2018

given the number of people in India who are naturally born with the so-called 'dark' complexion. The other irony is that the so-called MNC made 'dark complexion' into a confidence/success problem and Patanjali, a proudly Indian brand, is continuing to use that

— Karthik (@beastoftraal) January 8, 2018

message despite seemingly being against the 'MNC' brands.

— Karthik (@beastoftraal) January 8, 2018

Internet was visibly miffed with this advertisement and couldn't hold back their anger anymore. 

Wondering whether the ingredients include those famous imported #mushrooms #fairnesscream #notfair ð¤ð¤ð¤

— John K Philip (@johnkphilip) January 8, 2018

But an unruly and untidy beard definitely looks like an ailment. Does Patanjali has any solutions to that....???

— M (@ms290970) January 9, 2018

Then Baba Ramdev should start using it first to cure his ' dark complexion ' skin ailments and mental disorders

— ÆÑнмÑÑηα (@fehmeenavoice) January 8, 2018

Outrageous. As if his skin is super white!

So he should sell it as a beauty thing instead of an ailment like the rest of the corporates? What you are saying his he needs a better ad agency and lawyers.

— Bala (@sbchandar) January 8, 2018

Oh bhaisaab hum sab Bachpan se bimar hain!!

— Ritu Nagri (@RituNagri) January 8, 2018

However, after all this chaos, Baba Ramdev took to Twitter and responded to the guy stating that it was actually a translation error. They approved the word 'Skin Complications', which got changed or translated into ailment. He further said that he has always spoken about maintaining one's natural beauty and that he never supported color discrimination.  

We approved the word - 'Skin Complications' (तà¥à¤µà¤à¤¾ à¤à¥ विà¤à¤¾à¤°), which by error, got changed in translation/copy-writing. I always talked about maintaining natural beauty and never supported color discrimination.

— Swami Ramdev (@yogrishiramdev) January 9, 2018

He further said in another tweet that some people are trying to create controversy by holding on to just one word. 

हमनॠSkin Complications (तà¥à¤µà¤à¤¾ à¤à¥ विà¤à¤¾à¤°), शबà¥à¤¦ approve à¤à¤¿à¤¯à¤¾ था à¤à¥ translation/copy-writing मà¥à¤ à¤à¤¼à¤²à¤¤à¥ सॠबदल à¤à¤¯à¤¾à¥¤ मà¥à¤à¤¨à¥ à¤à¤­à¥ रà¤à¤-भà¥à¤¦ à¤à¥ बात नहà¥à¤ à¤à¥ à¤à¤° हमà¥à¤¶à¤¾ à¤à¤¼à¥à¤¦à¤°à¤¤à¥ सà¥à¤à¤¦à¤°à¥à¤¯ à¤à¥ निà¤à¤¾à¤°à¤¨à¥ à¤à¥ à¤à¤¯à¥à¤°à¥à¤µà¥à¤¦à¤¿à¤ à¤à¤ªà¤¾à¤¯ बतायॠहà¥à¤à¥¤ à¤à¥à¤ लà¥à¤ à¤à¤ शबà¥à¤¦ à¤à¥ पà¤à¤¡à¤¼ à¤à¤° विवाद पà¥à¤¦à¤¾ à¤à¤°à¤¨à¥ à¤à¤¾ पà¥à¤°à¤¯à¤¾à¤¸ à¤à¤° रहॠहà¥à¤ https://t.co/au3odkJ6uH

— Swami Ramdev (@yogrishiramdev) January 9, 2018

Although he has given a clarification, can anyone explain that if they approved 'skin complications', how does 'dark complexion' fit in it? Do they want to say that 'dark complexion' is a skin complication? We hope not! 

Just like one's skin colour has nothing to do with their success, similarly having a dark or light complexion does not make anyone superior or inferior. No matter how many justifications are made, no matter what explanation or reasoning is given, the fact that a cream is in place that promises to get rid of your dark complexion is outright bizarre and wrong on every level.

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