A Thai company owned by consumer goods giant Unilever apologised over a competition that promoted its skin whitening product by offering cash scholarships to students. The firm, Citra Thailand, said it did not intend “racial discrimination”. The campaign, Citra 3D Brightening Girls Search, asked female university students to send photos of themselves holding its body lotion.
Posts on social media criticised the company for linking education with skin colour. “Now, you can get a scholarship because of white skin not because of good studying, not if you are poor and dark,” said one post under the name MyOwnDream on pantip.com, a website in Thailand.
Another poster, under the name aekapopG, said Thai people were “brainwashed” into desiring a fair skin. Some people defended the campaign. “The company sells whitening products, so they decided to give the prizes for being white, what is the problem?” wrote blogger Valentika.