TWICE Called Out By Fans For Collaborating With Skin Whitening Brand

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

https://instagram.com/p/CVEvCMIPbuR

JYPE and Indonesian skincare brand Scarlett Whitening have Twice signed on to the promote a new line at the Scarlett Whitening brand. Fans are very divisive about the new ad campaign as many fans are upset that Twice has worked with a brand promoting bleaching or whitening products.


The brand’s products feature ingredients like nicotinamide, ascorbyl glucoside, and glutathione. These are associated with whitening products (hence the brand name).

OP Note: Nicotinamide is also known as niacinamide which is a very common and popular skincare ingredient, ascorbyl glucoside is a vitamin c derivative, and glutathione is often found in acne products for helping reduce acne scarring. If someone knows more about these types of products, please share in the comments! It sounds like these are common skincare ingredients in post-acne products especially but it’s the brand’s message itself as it’s alluding to lighter being more beautiful that is concerning.

***

Many skincare brands over the last few years are moving away from whitening products or labeling as it is a strongly contributing factor in colorism. The market for whitening products or branding as such though is still a very lucrative business however.

Fans can be found on Twitter and Instagram in the comment sections arguing over Twice representing a controversial brand. Onces have been mass emailing JYPE hoping to have the contract with Scarlett terminated.

It is complicated as on the flip side, many Indonesian fans were excited for Twice being the new ambassadors.
OP Note: Also you have those fans who are very much “get over it just be happy for Twice” which is just adding to the mess. That was going to be inevitable though.

JYPE is very well aware that they’re now under fire as the personal tweet they had promoting the new campaign has been deleted on @jypetwice.


Source: @scarlett_whitening

Hope this is ok, the info I’ve been receiving from personal observation of fans in the comment sections.

Comments

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

Omg I was so sure my post was going to get denied because of sourcing!

Here I really recommend checking out koreaboo’s article:

https://www.koreaboo.com/news/twice-skin-whitening-endorsement-fans-jyp-stop/

I couldn’t feature it since my posts with Koreaboo as a source in the past have been rejected and Soompi hasn’t posted this yet.

[kyulkyung.livejournal.com]

kpop companies are so out of touch with the world.. or don't care as long as they're making bank i guess. like, two weeks after their english single release and in the midst of their american promos? come on. defensive fans aren't helping either.

jyp may have taken down their tweet but i feel like there's no way they won't go through with the collaboration, they can't just come out and suddenly denounce the brand (i mean, they could, but i'd be surprised). seems like a lose-lose situation for them.

[vanilla-09.livejournal.com]

I also think JYP doesnt care bc skin lightening is also very normalized in SK/East-Asia/South-East Asian beauty industries and they like never use lightening but say things like brigthening or exfoliating.

[921227.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting OP!

tbh it's sad that skin whitening is still so popular and prevalent && that someone at jyp thought this would be a good idea. Hopefully any additional marketing can be edited to be less light=pretty and just as a general cosmetic

Are any of the members particularly known for being light? You know, when not heavily ps'ed

[pseudo-shigure.livejournal.com]

lol but this is indonesian company. we think east asian in general is white/light, at least more than us. i've watched some korean-indonesian youtuber contents (one is actual korean, and the other is chinese-indonesian), and these girls are light by our standard, but the koreans think they are not. and that's usually mind boggling for us.

[chiives.livejournal.com]

dahyun is very, very pale even for korean standards. mina and nayeon are also pretty light. i remember tzuyu used to get comments for being dark, except her natural skintone is probably around an nc 25 in mac foundation (just slightly darker than #23 in most kr bb creams) so lol??

[daynr.livejournal.com]

I use those ingredients, or similar, for non-whitening reasons. (I'm also caucasian and don't care about overall lightening.) When I want to lighten my melasma I go for hydroquinone... But maybe melasma and general lightning are different.

Doesn't omona regularly complain about Twice foundation being way off their skin tone? Isn't this par for the course for them?

It's interesting that the fans who the ads target seem excited about the endorsement.

Edit: I read the koreaboo article and brightening v lightening is a (convenient?) grey area. Loads of stuff, even marketed to the fair caucasians, are labeled as brightening with similar ingredients. Do they whiten? 🤷‍♀️. If I use a brightening mask it probably takes off a few layers of skin and I look both brighter and whiter.

I always assumed that the "whitening" creams have a more dramatic effect (and are unhealthy).

[pseudo-shigure.livejournal.com]

there's nothing wrong with the ingredients. and at best they brighten your skin/make your complexion even. they can't make your skin lighter, like from a medium to a fair. it's the marketing that is frowned upon.

[broadcities.livejournal.com]

oh mess :( from what i'm reading, the ingredients would be marketed as brightening in e.g. europe, but that they're marketed as whitening in this brand is very insensitive.

kpop companies again just wanting to make money by any means, without considering the social implications of their business decisions and the impact it could have on their fans...

[ty.livejournal.com]

All girl groups are white af

[rennehollic.livejournal.com]

This is just.. Beyond insensitive, but why am I even a bit surprised? When are kpop companies aware of people around them and the audience they have? All it matters is the money.
I hope fans go against the company, cause I'm pretty sure the girls have no saying.

[suggestivepeach.livejournal.com]

I think the fact that jype deleted the tweet promoting the brand is proof that they are aware of the backlash and implications of the skincare company’s marketing. But deleting the tweets isn’t enough, they probably have to actually make a statement about this bc all the Onces on my TL have been mass emailing or spamming their V-lives, bubble, etc with messages expressing disappointment in the endorsement. There’s no way they haven’t seen the criticism.
I get that they’re far from the only group or celebrity to endorse whitening skincare. It’s basically inescapable in Asia, but it’s an even worse look for Twice because they JUST promoted an English single in the west. And international fans do not take kindly to the normalisation of colorism. It couldn’t have come at a worse time.
It’s also probably almost impossible for Jype to do anything since contracts have been signed and investments have been made, but idk… SOMETHING needs to be said because Onces are not going to just let this slide easily. I personally think it would be better to cancel (?) this contract, lose some money, but keep loyal long-term fans and album sales.

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

If someone knows more about these types of products, please share in the comments! It sounds like these are common skincare ingredients in post-acne products especially but it’s the brand’s message itself as it’s alluding to lighter being more beautiful that is concerning.

Many skincare brands in the west use these ingrediets, they just don't promote them as skin whitening but as dark spot removers and for a brighter skintone which fits the ingredients better. You can't really whiten your skin tone using such products anyway but it can help remove small dark spots to even your skintone out.
I don't really understand the backlash. I get that "skin whitening" is a dumb thing but then again I'm not from Indonesia and didn't grow up in a culture where bright white skin is seen as something good and healthy.

edit: Song Joongki also endorses the brand so Twice aren't the only K-celebs

[darklitplanet.livejournal.com]

oof. 😬 i hope jype can address this in a satisfactory manner but i’m not holding my breath. this is really disappointing and something that will cause real material harm. 😞

[myungung.livejournal.com]

Money wins I guess? The product probably isn’t anything controversial or terrible if the active ingredients are similar, but the emphasis on whitening is not a good look. Especially given how SEAsians are given flak for not being pale like East Asians

[dull-and-wicked.livejournal.com]

this is such an unforced error by jype, you're in the middle of marketing twice to a wider western audience, this type of ad won't be beneficial pr wise at all?

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

Anyone's peeved out by the photoshop? I know everyone in the group have rather light skintones, but there should be a small difference between Dahyun on one end and Jihyo/Tzuyu in the other. The fact that they're all made to be the same skintone really makes the brand's intent clear, even if there are regular ingredients in the product. It's clearly marketed as a whitening product.
I'm not too surprised/shocked by the endorsement itself though, it wouldn't be the first time a kpop group endorses a whitening product... Call me cynical but the whole "brighten your skin!" argument is just a way to re-package whitening products with less offensive terms anyway, and kpop companies are there to make money with their idols and endorsements.
The timing is really unfortunate though. With TWICE actively promoting in the US right now and trying to be successful, I would hope that JYPE/TWICE's marketing team would be mindful of trends and issues in the US, and delay/be more careful with a whitening product endorsement.

[falling-cookie.livejournal.com]

I didn't hear about this until coming here but I do think some of the backlash is a little misguided. There's so many skin brightening products in America (even that I use) but I wouldn't say that it would make be a different shade of black. It just evens the tone and I think that's what this product does too. Just a different usage.

Also, I think they look just as light in the promo pic as some other recent pics. I but the intended PH fans seem happy.

[nudrive.livejournal.com]

This isnt just about what the products do, this is about what the products and the company represent and the history of colourism in Asia.

[nudrive.livejournal.com]

I can't with the ignorant comments from people who obviously don't know what it's like to grow up in a culture where being lighter makes your life easier and it's sought after ¬_¬

[klauses.livejournal.com]

hahaha what a dumb comment

[nudrive.livejournal.com]

Offended you, did I? 😂