A Critical Discourse Analysis of Fair & Lovely's Rebranding: Beauty Ideas and Ideological Shifts Through Fairclough's Model

Abstract

The study is an in-depth and critical analysis of the rebranding of Fair & Lovely to Glow & Lovely through the lens of Norman Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) model. The authors argue that the rebranding is a discursive move that off-resonates with localized cultural pressures taking form around colourism, gender stereotypes, and beauty fads. The paper employs a qualitative approach to investigate the stages of change in the ad language and visual appearance of the promotions made before and after the revamp of the logo. The authors collected the data from YouTube videos and a small focus group. The results show that although the brand has adopted more inclusive language, the underlying ideology is still fairness as an aspirational ideal. This paper is an illustrative case of a very difficult and bumpy road from marketing to authentic social change in the beauty industry.