Unilever Removes ‘Normal’ From All Products to Promote Beauty Positivity

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Unilever has pledged to abstain from altering models’ shapes, sizes and skin colors and to remove ‘normal’ from all packaging — details

Unilever Removes ‘Normal’ From All Products to Promote Beauty Positivity — Shutterstock

Unilever is shaking up the beauty industry — and in the best way possible! The conglomerate, which owns brands like Dove, Suave, Vaseline and Axe, announced their new tagline on March 9, “Say no to ‘normal.’ and yes to positive beauty.”

As for what that means? The beauty powerhouse will remove the word ‘normal’ from all packing and messaging on beauty and personal care products. That’s not all the though, Unilever will also refrain from altering a model’s shape, size or skin color in post-production for campaigns and photo shoots as well as strive to be more inclusive in their casting.

The brand’s mission to “champion a new era of beauty that’s inclusive, equitable and sustainable” comes on the heels of an interesting survey that examined 10,000 people’s perception of the beauty industry.

Results showed that 7 in 10 individuals thought the word ‘normal’ on beauty packaging had a negative effect and 74% of people said “they want to see the beauty and personal care industry focus more on making people feel better rather than just look better.”

Another takeaway? People are looking for a change. According to the results, more than 7 in 10 people said that the personal care industry has a responsibility to broaden its definition of beauty.

Given the alarming stats, Unilever has vowed to make a change.

“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. As part of this, we are committed to tackling harmful norms and stereotypes and shaping a broader, far more inclusive definition of beauty,” said Sunny Jain, President of Unilever Beauty & Personal Care, in a press release.

That said, the company is well aware that removing a single word is a mere stepping stone to get them closer to their vision of positive beauty.

“We won’t just do less harm, we’re committed to doing more good. We will enhance the lives of more than 1 billion people by taking action to improve health, hygiene and wellbeing. Build body confidence, champion inclusion and fight for racial and gender equity,” Unilever says in the Youtube video accompanying the campaign.

In the 2-minute clip, the company also makes a statement about sustainability. “We will protect and regenerate more of the planet than we use for our beauty products. That’s 1.5 million hectors of land, forest and oceans.”