In this talk, with the help of insights from over two decades of advertisements and matrimonial columns in Indonesia and India, socio-cultural events and studying the arrival of Revlon and friends, Yousuf Rangoonwala painted a well, colourful picture of how the definitions and ideals of beauty are shaped by the forces around us and how while beauty may be in the eyes of the beholder, someone’s always deciding what the beholder gets to see. Yousuf currently works as a senior strategic planner at BBH Mumbai.
Yousuf Rangoonwaala
And above all, be fair!
25 January 2013
US$43.6 million worth of cosmetics are purchased every hour in the world. Most of them are fairness, whitening and skin lightening creams bought in Asia. A lot of them are bought in Asian countries where lives were once proudly sacrificed to gain independence from ‘white people’. Why then has fairness become the standard for beauty in these countries? What are the socio-cultural and economic reasons behind the success of such products?
