The new normal - Unilever drops term and adopts new positive beauty vision

Brand-owner giant Unilever announced it will remove the word ‘normal’ from all its beauty and personal care brands’ packaging, as part of the launch of its new ‘Positive Beauty’ vision and strategy.

The decision to remove ‘normal’ comes following a global research in the beauty industry, which reveals that using ‘normal' to describe hair or skin makes most people feel excluded. The survey showed that 74% of peple want to see the beauty and personal care industry focusing more on making people feel better, than just looking better and 70% of people agree that using the world normal on product packaging and advertising has a negative impact.

The move is one of the many steps Unilever is taking to challenge strict beauty ideals, as it works towards helping to end discrimination and advocating for a more inclusive vision of beauty.

“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,” says Sunny Jain, president of beauty and personal care at Unilever.

The ‘Positive Beauty’ strategy sets out different progressive commitments and actions for the brand’s beauty brands, including Dove, Axe and Sunsilk, with the aim of championing champion a new era of beauty which is equitable, inclusive and sustainable for the planet. By changing how products are designed and formulated, Positive Beauty will deliver a superior product experience and tap into consumer trends.

“With more consumers than ever rewarding brands which take action on the social and environmental issues they care about, we believe that Positive Beauty will make us a stronger, and more successful business,” says Jain.

Other aspects of ‘Positive Beauty’ include driving gender equity by stepping up brand programmes, advocacy to challenge the status quo and un-stereotyping advertising and improving health and wellbeing through existing educational initiatives in handwashing and oral hygiene and expanding focus physical health and mental wellbeing areas.