Unilever Axes the Word ‘Normal’ from its Beauty Product Labels

The consumer goods company Unilever announced Tuesday that it would drop the word “normal” from its labeling and advertising for beauty products.

The move to remove “normal” from the brand’s 200 products comes as the company tries to be more “equitable and inclusive.”

The London-based company announced in a press release that its decision to drop the word is one of several steps the company is taking “to challenge narrow beauty ideals” and “end discrimination” while “advocating for a more inclusive vision of beauty.”

Unilever’s reasoning for axing the word “normal” from its products comes from a 10,000 person study it commissioned. The study found that seven in ten said that using the word “normal” as an adjective for hair and skin excluded many customers.

“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,” Sunny Jain, Unilever’s Beauty and Personal Care president, said in a statement.

“As part of this, we are committed to tackling harmful norms and stereotypes and shaping a broader, far more inclusive definition of beauty,” Jain added.

The company also announced that it would no longer change a person’s body shape, skin color, or proportion in advertising.

This is not the first time Unilever has faced backlash for its advertising campaigns.

In 2020, the company had to change its top-selling skin-lightening brand in India from “Fair & Lovely” to “Glow & Lovely” after many consumers claimed it portrayed darker skin tones in a negative light, Reuters reported.