Hindustan Unilever

Mercury pollution

In 2001 a thermometer factory in Kodaikanal run by Hindustan Unilever dumped glass contaminated with mercury and selling it to scrap merchants.[16] Protests by local NGOs and Greenpeace lead to the shutting of the factory in March 2001.[17] The issue has since snowballed into a controversy impacting the reputation of the company and led to a series of regulatory and legal confrontations. The issue was eventually resolved in 2016 through an out of court settlement between the company and the affected ex-workers.[18][19]

Skin lightening creams

Hindustan Unilever's "Glow & Lovely" is the leading skin-lightening cream for women in India.[20] The company had to cease television advertisements for the product in 2007. Advertisements depicted depressed, dark-complexioned women, who had been ignored by employers and men, suddenly finding new boyfriends and glamorous careers after the cream had lightened their skin.[21] In 2008, Hindustan Unilever made former Miss World Priyanka Chopra a brand ambassador for Pond's,[22] and she then appeared in a mini-series of television commercials for another skin lightening product, 'White Beauty', alongside Saif Ali Khan and Neha Dhupia; these advertisements, showing Priyanka's face with a clearly darker complexion against the visibly fairer Neha Dhupia, were widely criticised for perpetuating racism[23] and lowering the self-esteem of women and girls throughout India who were misled by HUL to believe that they needed to be white to be beautiful. The company rebranded the cream from Fair and Lovely to Glow and Lovely, removing the word Fair from the brand.

Triclosan

Several academic papers have pointed out the firm's continued use of the antibacterial agent Triclosan ('Active B') in India because it is under review by the American Food and Drug Administration (US FDA).[24]

Kumbh Mela ad

In March 2019 HUL's advertisement for its beverage Brooke Bond Red Label tea was criticised on social media. A company tweet referred to the Kumbh Mela as a place where elderly people get abandoned by their family members.[25][26] This resulted in a severe backlash in the form of an adverse hashtag trending on Twitter '#BoycottHindustanUnilever'.[27]

Food

• Annapurna salt and Atta (formerly known as Kissan Annapurna)
• Boost chocolate Drink mix
• Bru coffee powder
• Brooke Bond (3 Roses, Taj Mahal, Taaza, Red Label) tea
• Kissan squashes, ketchups, juices and jams
• Lipton leaf tea, ice tea
• Knorr soups & meal makers, Ketchups, Readymade Sauces and soupy noodles
• Kwality Wall's frozen desserts
• Hellmann's mayonnaise[28]
• Magnum (ice cream)[29]
• Cornetto Ice cream cones[30]
• Horlicks (Health Drink supplements)[31]

Homecare

Source: [35]

• Active wheel detergent
• Cif cream cleaner
• Comfort fabric softeners
• Domex disinfectant/toilet cleaner
• Love & Care wash care
• Nature Protect disinfectant surface cleaner[32]
• Rin detergents and bleach
• Sunlight detergent and colour care
• Surf Excel detergent and gentle wash
• Vim dishwash
• Magic – Water Saver[33][34]

Personal care

Source: [37]

• Aviance Beauty Solutions
• Axe deodorant, aftershave lotion and soap
• Lever Ayush Therapy ayurvedic health care and personal care products
• International Breeze
• Brylcreem hair cream and hair gel
• Clear anti-dandruff hair products
• Clinic Plus shampoos and oils
• Close-Up toothpastes
• Dove skin & hair care range: bar, lotions, creams and anti-perspirant deodorants
• Denim shaving products
• Dermalogica
• Elle 18
• Find Your Happy Place
• Glow and Lovely, skin lightening cream
• Hamam soaps
• Indulekha Ayurvedic soaps, shampoos, hair oils
• Lakmé beauty products and salons
• Lifebuoy soaps, Hand Sanitizers and handwashes
• Liril 2000 soap
• Lux soap, body wash and deodorant
• Nature Protect
• Pears soap, body wash
• Pepsodent toothpastes
• Pond's talcs and Cosmetics
• Rexona Deodarants
• Sunsilk shampoo
• Sure anti-perspirant
• V Wash feminine wash
• Vaseline petroleum jelly, skincare lotions
• TRESemmé[36]
• TIGI