A lot of white people want to be tan. But those residents of planet Earth who seek a lighter shade — even in tiny, discolored areas — will soon be out of luck.
At least, so far as Johnson & Johnson is concerned.
According to The New York Daily News, J&J announced Friday it’ll stop selling skin products marketed as dark-spot removers but sometimes used as skin lighteners.
From the company’s statement:
“Conversations over the past few weeks highlighted that some product names on our Neutrogena and Clean & Clear dark-spot reducer products represent fairness or white as better than your own unique skin tone. This was never our intention — healthy skin is beautiful skin.”
Specifically at issue: Neutrogena’s Fine and Fairness and Clear Fairness products.
If you’re missing both of those from your arsenal, it’s probably because they’re only sold in the Middle East and Asia.
But don’t misunderstand — taking a walk on the lighter side is big business: As per research firm Euromonitor International, in 2019, nearly 6,300 tons of skin lightener were sold globally.
Nonetheless, pale people wanting to cover their liver spots may soon have to invest in Liquid Paper.
As per the Daily News:
Although Johnson & Johnson stated that it would no longer produce or ship the skin-lightening products, consumers were likely to see them in stores until supplies run out.
J&J might be the first biggie to discontinue lighter-shade product lines, but the brand’s not alone in its castigation of Caucasian color — as I previously covered, French cosmetics giant L’Oreal declared it’ll do away with offensive words such as “whitening,” “fairness,” and “lightening.”
Better? Are degrees of light ruining the world?
2050 Marketing founder Mike Jackson (no relation) believes the globe’s makeup monsters are guilty of a tainting lack of tint:
“I think a lot of these brands really need to look at the contributions, or lack thereof, that have contributed to a lot of the systemic issues. This is a real movement and this one feels really, really different.”
So far — the best I can tell — no one has actually named what those systemic issues are. That would seem a preferable beginning to solving a problem: First, identify it.
In the meantime, syllables are taking a shellacking and products are getting pulverized.
More from the TNYDN:
The company’s decision comes on the heels of several other companies rebranding products in the wake of global Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Quaker Oats announced on Wednesday that it was retiring its Aunt Jemima character while Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream said Friday that it was renaming its Eskimo Pie brand that had been established nearly a century prior, reported USA Today.
We’re living in heavy times, and if Neutrogena, Johnson & Johnson, and L’Oreal have anything to say about it, the world won’t be lightening up any time soon.
So get plenty of sleep — not just because the state of the nation is tense, but because those dark circles under your eyes will have to go unaddressed.
And without a doubt, there’s more to come.
As I consider these recent manufacturer moves, I have to wonder: What about sunblock?
Maybe all this time, SPF stood for Supporting Prejudice and Fascism.
So woke up, you day-walking neanderthals — time to put aside aerosolized oppression and get savage.
-ALEX
See 3 more pieces from me:
‘The Simpsons’ Announces It Will Recast All Nonwhite Characters Voiced by White Actors
Calvin Klein Makes History: Introducing the First ‘Transqueer Lesbian’ Icon
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