Well lightening skin tone is and always will be popular. In the West, it's to get rid of freckles/age spots. In the East, where it's far more popular, it's to achieve the ideal of porcelain white skin.
However I'm incredibly surprised that they used the word 'bleach' in their branding which calls to mind the incredibly dangerous hydroquinone/mercury-based creams that were (and still are) popular in African and Asian countries - basically designed, as you said, to strip the skin of all pigment.
Actual 'bleaching' ingredients are now illegal over-the-counter and all brands (even Asian ones where lightening skin tone is very popular) make it abundantly clear that these 'lightening' or 'brightening' products are safe and intended for localised pigmenatation concerns - not to be used all over.
They are, of course, used all over by lots of people but still - the brands are careful not to use the word 'bleach'. It calls to mind the image of damaging the skin, not to mention all sorts of messy race issues that the word 'brightening' avoids.
The mind boggles really... what the hell is a Western brand doing using that word in their branding when even the most popular skin lightening brands (Shiseido, Lauder, Olay...) avoid that word like the plague?
Firstly they're selling to a culture where lightening pigmentation isn't very popular and then they're advertising it like THAT?
Not sure it's idiocy tb fair, but more a 'dramatic' title that is maybe misguided. Rodials USP is attention grabbing titles so it's in keeping with the rest of their products.
I'm a trade mark lawyer. I'm not sure what you mean when you say that you researched the trademarking. Do you mean that you found a trade mark registration for SKIN BLEACH? Or that you found bleaching preparations listed alongside cosmetics in certain trade mark specifications?
What you quoted is the class heading for class 3 goods. Trade mark specifications are drafted for particular goods and services. The majority of the world's trade mark registers use the Nice classification system, which is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
Falling in Nice Class 3 are all the goods you listed. It may seem odd that cosmetics and bleach are in the same class but it's just a method of organisation.
In general I'm totally with you on the issue of misleadingly marketed products -- and I have a particular distaste for disingenuous marketing language that creates the appearance of meaning but NO ACTUAL MEANING, because of course if you don't actually say it does XYZ, then the data proving it doesn't do XYZ are irrelevant! Yay!
The caffeine bit is a great example of this. Two things are known about caffeine:
1. Caffeine has been shown to shrink fat cells. In test tubes. In a laboratory. But unless you are planning on taking your fat cells out of your body and soaking them in coffee (eeeew), that doesn't mean much -- there's no really solid evidence that shows the caffeine can penetrate the skin well enough to shrink those cells while they're still in your thighs. Or arms. Whatever.
2. Caffeine increases blood flow to muscles. Which might, if you have just done a lot of exercise, stimulate the "transportation of fatty acids" along with everything else going to and coming out of muscle tissue during and after exercise. And coenzyme A does indeed help with the transportation of fatty acids -- from cell cytoplasm to cell mitochondria. Not from your arm into the atmosphere. And there is no evidence (that I have seen) that it works topically.
The problem (IMHO) with language like this is that it has just enough truth in it to qualify claims as being possible, and then the people who write this stuff stand back and watch while consumers seize on the claims and assume they mean what common-sense language would dictate they mean, not what is only "true" in terms of technicalities and lab circumstances. (Sorry, didn't mean to go on at such length, but I snipe at marketing language regularly on my own blog and it's a particular thorn in my side.)
Speaking as someone who talks to many women about their skin, pigmentation is a valid issue. Hormones and sun can cause embarrassing dark areas that are a legitimate concern. None of us likes to be different, to have something "odd" stand out. I think that's the ideal customer for these products.
As for poreless, waxy, one-toned skin... that's just creepy.
Whitening products are huge here in Japan! I find it kind of funny since in the west when summer comes we get a huge surge in fake-tan product promotion - in the east it's all about how to stay white through the summer.
MQ - yes you are right re the Trademarking - and thanks for pointing out the organisation method - that's interesting - without going back I think it was a US trademark that I read. Weird that they bundle everything together like that.
Jen, I think what I meant more was incidental pigmentation.. I know there are women who have problems with pigmentation markings particularly when it is over the top lip etc, a common place, and it is understandable to look for a way to reduce it. But I do also believe that pigmentation contributes to what makes a face characterful so the wiping out off all pigmentation is a horrible thought to me.
I'm not sure how Rodial got my mail address since I never bought anything from them, but I do get their mailings and I often cringe at their claims. And talk about using our insecurities to sell us stuff!
I'm actually disgusted that Rodial have the nerve to bring out a 'Skin Bleach' range. In the Asian community there is a huge stigma surrounding dark skin and I can (sadly) see many girls going for products like this.
I dont think we should get our panties in a twist. There's no way shieseido or clarins are going to use similiar terms for their whitening lines as they have soft and safe brand images with lots of fancy terms for serums and elixirs. Looking at Rodial - its obvious that they take a risk with product names that grab attention; Boob Job, Tummy Tuck, Crash Diet - only fitting that they have a whitening line and call it Skin Bleach (it was never going to be Cell Illuminaire - or such nonsense)? Personally, the name is just that, a name. The proof is in the using and if it brightens and evens skin tone (hello clinique with the egg getting paler and paler...!) then great, if not then it will fade away into the discount stores.
You tell this to the endless parade of Eastern European and Asian women (and a few men I might add), who come into the store where I work, looking for whitening products. Whether its pigmentation or they just want the entire face and neck to be paler, they insist there must be something they can use.
Look at the cover models for the Asian bridal mags. The girls are invariably fair skinned, further emphasising the message. It seems to be a cultural thing; fairer skin is more desirable to some.
Have you heard of Lightenex? I see this product advertised at the independent pharmacies in areas that are predominantly EE/Asian. It promises to whiten the skin. How safe or effective it is, I've no idea. I can understand the desire to correct sun damage and there are some reputable products out there that one can try. However wanting to do what we used call a "Michael Jackson" on your skin, is difficult to understand.
Rodial is horrible with their naming, marketing and their attacks on anyone who dares criticize them. And the products are generally overpriced crap. Just an awful company, full stop. And I'm annoyed that they keep gettin away with it!!
In my opinion they are treading on a very fine line with regard to the Arm Sculpt. As you say, there are clear guidelines from the ASA that ads shouldn't claim fat or weight can be lost from the specific parts of their body. Although there's no ad - they do have a website and the description of the product on their site certainly implies weight loss from the arm area, e.g. "to firm and sculpt the upper arm area".. "stimulates fat burning".. and so on. I think one could argue that the online description clearly implies fat reduction in the arm area. I think it's just a matter of time before someone (consumer or competitor) calls them out on this..!
Like millions of women (and men) around the world, I suffer from a skin condition known as melasma. It is characterised by patches of hyperpigmentation - usually on the face.
While I don't like the term 'skin bleach' - I would try this product if I though it would help. I'd like to think that this is market that is being targeted by this product....
15 comments:
Well lightening skin tone is and always will be popular. In the West, it's to get rid of freckles/age spots. In the East, where it's far more popular, it's to achieve the ideal of porcelain white skin.
However I'm incredibly surprised that they used the word 'bleach' in their branding which calls to mind the incredibly dangerous hydroquinone/mercury-based creams that were (and still are) popular in African and Asian countries - basically designed, as you said, to strip the skin of all pigment.
Actual 'bleaching' ingredients are now illegal over-the-counter and all brands (even Asian ones where lightening skin tone is very popular) make it abundantly clear that these 'lightening' or 'brightening' products are safe and intended for localised pigmenatation concerns - not to be used all over.
They are, of course, used all over by lots of people but still - the brands are careful not to use the word 'bleach'. It calls to mind the image of damaging the skin, not to mention all sorts of messy race issues that the word 'brightening' avoids.
The mind boggles really... what the hell is a Western brand doing using that word in their branding when even the most popular skin lightening brands (Shiseido, Lauder, Olay...) avoid that word like the plague?
Firstly they're selling to a culture where lightening pigmentation isn't very popular and then they're advertising it like THAT?
Idiots.
Not sure it's idiocy tb fair, but more a 'dramatic' title that is maybe misguided. Rodials USP is attention grabbing titles so it's in keeping with the rest of their products.
I'm a trade mark lawyer. I'm not sure what you mean when you say that you researched the trademarking. Do you mean that you found a trade mark registration for SKIN BLEACH? Or that you found bleaching preparations listed alongside cosmetics in certain trade mark specifications?
What you quoted is the class heading for class 3 goods. Trade mark specifications are drafted for particular goods and services. The majority of the world's trade mark registers use the Nice classification system, which is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
Falling in Nice Class 3 are all the goods you listed. It may seem odd that cosmetics and bleach are in the same class but it's just a method of organisation.
In general I'm totally with you on the issue of misleadingly marketed products -- and I have a particular distaste for disingenuous marketing language that creates the appearance of meaning but NO ACTUAL MEANING, because of course if you don't actually say it does XYZ, then the data proving it doesn't do XYZ are irrelevant! Yay!
The caffeine bit is a great example of this. Two things are known about caffeine:
1. Caffeine has been shown to shrink fat cells. In test tubes. In a laboratory. But unless you are planning on taking your fat cells out of your body and soaking them in coffee (eeeew), that doesn't mean much -- there's no really solid evidence that shows the caffeine can penetrate the skin well enough to shrink those cells while they're still in your thighs. Or arms. Whatever.
2. Caffeine increases blood flow to muscles. Which might, if you have just done a lot of exercise, stimulate the "transportation of fatty acids" along with everything else going to and coming out of muscle tissue during and after exercise. And coenzyme A does indeed help with the transportation of fatty acids -- from cell cytoplasm to cell mitochondria. Not from your arm into the atmosphere. And there is no evidence (that I have seen) that it works topically.
The problem (IMHO) with language like this is that it has just enough truth in it to qualify claims as being possible, and then the people who write this stuff stand back and watch while consumers seize on the claims and assume they mean what common-sense language would dictate they mean, not what is only "true" in terms of technicalities and lab circumstances. (Sorry, didn't mean to go on at such length, but I snipe at marketing language regularly on my own blog and it's a particular thorn in my side.)
Speaking as someone who talks to many women about their skin, pigmentation is a valid issue. Hormones and sun can cause embarrassing dark areas that are a legitimate concern. None of us likes to be different, to have something "odd" stand out. I think that's the ideal customer for these products.
As for poreless, waxy, one-toned skin... that's just creepy.
Whitening products are huge here in Japan! I find it kind of funny since in the west when summer comes we get a huge surge in fake-tan product promotion - in the east it's all about how to stay white through the summer.
But yeah... "Skin Bleach"? Really?
MQ - yes you are right re the Trademarking - and thanks for pointing out the organisation method - that's interesting - without going back I think it was a US trademark that I read. Weird that they bundle everything together like that.
Jen, I think what I meant more was incidental pigmentation.. I know there are women who have problems with pigmentation markings particularly when it is over the top lip etc, a common place, and it is understandable to look for a way to reduce it. But I do also believe that pigmentation contributes to what makes a face characterful so the wiping out off all pigmentation is a horrible thought to me.
I'm not sure how Rodial got my mail address since I never bought anything from them, but I do get their mailings and I often cringe at their claims.
And talk about using our insecurities to sell us stuff!
I'm actually disgusted that Rodial have the nerve to bring out a 'Skin Bleach' range. In the Asian community there is a huge stigma surrounding dark skin and I can (sadly) see many girls going for products like this.
I dont think we should get our panties in a twist. There's no way shieseido or clarins are going to use similiar terms for their whitening lines as they have soft and safe brand images with lots of fancy terms for serums and elixirs. Looking at Rodial - its obvious that they take a risk with product names that grab attention; Boob Job, Tummy Tuck, Crash Diet - only fitting that they have a whitening line and call it Skin Bleach (it was never going to be Cell Illuminaire - or such nonsense)? Personally, the name is just that, a name. The proof is in the using and if it brightens and evens skin tone (hello clinique with the egg getting paler and paler...!) then great, if not then it will fade away into the discount stores.
You tell this to the endless parade of Eastern European and Asian women (and a few men I might add), who come into the store where I work, looking for whitening products. Whether its pigmentation or they just want the entire face and neck to be paler, they insist there must be something they can use.
Look at the cover models for the Asian bridal mags. The girls are invariably fair skinned, further emphasising the message. It seems to be a cultural thing; fairer skin is more desirable to some.
Have you heard of Lightenex? I see this product advertised at the independent pharmacies in areas that are predominantly EE/Asian. It promises to whiten the skin. How safe or effective it is, I've no idea. I can understand the desire to correct sun damage and there are some reputable products out there that one can try. However wanting to do what we used call a "Michael Jackson" on your skin, is difficult to understand.
Great article!
Rodial is horrible with their naming, marketing and their attacks on anyone who dares criticize them. And the products are generally overpriced crap. Just an awful company, full stop. And I'm annoyed that they keep gettin away with it!!
In my opinion they are treading on a very fine line with regard to the Arm Sculpt. As you say, there are clear guidelines from the ASA that ads shouldn't claim fat or weight can be lost from the specific parts of their body. Although there's no ad - they do have a website and the description of the product on their site certainly implies weight loss from the arm area, e.g.
"to firm and sculpt the upper arm area".. "stimulates fat burning".. and so on. I think one could argue that the online description clearly implies fat reduction in the arm area. I think it's just a matter of time before someone (consumer or competitor) calls them out on this..!
Like millions of women (and men) around the world, I suffer from a skin condition known as melasma. It is characterised by patches of hyperpigmentation - usually on the face.
While I don't like the term 'skin bleach' - I would try this product if I though it would help. I'd like to think that this is market that is being targeted by this product....
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