Whitening products to alter branding strategy due to colorism issues

Cosmetics companies are shifting their branding strategy toward "a more inclusive vision of beauty" by removing words like "white," "light," and "fair."

It's among the series of changes due to Black Lives Matter protests that prompted companies to rethink their policies.

Unilever, which sells millions of tubes of skin lightening cream Fair & Lovely brand across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, said it would remove such wording.

The 45-year-old Fair & Lovely brand earns Unilever over $500 million in yearly revenue in India alone.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Unilever's Indian subsidiary, said that the Fair & Lovely brand would be renamed as "Glow & Lovely."

Women's groups have criticized Unilever's aggressive marketing of Fair & Lovely from Egypt to Malaysia.

French cosmetics giant L'Oreal followed suit in their word choices.

Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson announced that it would stop selling Neutrogena's fairness and skin-whitening lines.

The biggest cosmetics companies in the world have been promoting whitening to improve love lives, boost careers, and command attention.