New Delhi, December 11, 2024: A Delhi consumer commission has ordered Emami Limited, a beauty products company, to pay 15 lakh rupees in damages for misleading claims about its skin cream, Fair and Handsome, concluding a 12-year legal battle.
Nikhil Jain, a banker, filed a complaint in 2013 after the product failed to deliver its advertised promise of “fairness in three weeks.” The court found Emami’s advertisements and packaging deceptive, citing incomplete instructions for achieving the claimed results.
Emami’s cream Fair and Handsome featured actor Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador. The advertisement’s tagline was, “Being fair means being handsome.”
In his complaint, Nikhil Jain stated, “I was compelled to buy the cream after watching Shah Rukh Khan’s advertisement. I was sold the dream that being fair meant being handsome. It claimed fairness could be achieved within three weeks.”
The ruling requires Emami to pay 14.5 lakh rupees to the Delhi State Consumer Welfare Fund, 50,000 rupees as compensation to Jain, and 10,000 rupees for litigation costs. This is the second penalty against Emami in the case, following a 2015 ruling that was later overturned on appeal.
The commission rejected Emami’s argument that results depended on factors like diet and exercise, emphasizing that such conditions were not disclosed in the product’s advertisements or instructions.
Jain welcomed the verdict, highlighting the societal pressures created by such advertisements. “I hope this case raises awareness about the reality of these products,” he said.
