Almost every person knows about the product Vaseline, especially that small little blue bottle hailed by many for working wonders for rough and tough skin. It is recommended by dermatologists, people, and many more across the world.
However, in a recent LinkedIn post, a journalist claimed that the version sold in India is not the same and technically is “not even petroleum jelly”.
What Did The LinkedIn Post Claim?
On 12 November, Sahil Singh Kukreja, a journalist, posted on his LinkedIn profile that the Vaseline officially being sold in India is not the same Vaseline sold in other countries.
In his post, he wrote “You’ll be shocked to know that one of these two hashtag#Vaseline products is not even petroleum jelly.
The one sold in India on the right, is actually a ‘skin protecting jelly’ with a total of 12 ingredients, while the exported one on the left with the yellowish tint has only one – Petrolatum.
Why is a major conglomerate like Unilever selling sub-standard products in #India in 2024?
Petroleum jelly is supposed to be free of chemicals and fragrances, while the one sold in India has at least four different types of fragrances.
However, #HindustanUnilever will argue that it is not ‘petroleum jelly’ per se, so they can add any chemical or fragrance to it.
As a customer, you need to wake up and boycott such sub-standard products until they are on par with the ones sold to our foreign counterparts.
Help spread the word until the brand realises that the #Indian consumer is not worth less than a consumer from anywhere else in the world. I also urge Department of Consumer Affairs to put stricter guidelines on #FMCG companies against inferior products.
P.S. #HUL does not sell any other ‘petroleum jelly’ version of the Vaseline in India.”
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After some searching on Google and the official Vaseline and Hindustan Unilever sites, it did seem that the original 100% pure petroleum jelly version of Vaseline is not available in India.
When I searched on the India page of the Vaseline website the product listed was called Vaseline® Skin Protecting Jelly and the ingredients mentioned for it were “Mineral oil, Paraffin, microcrystalline wax, tocopheryl acetate, fragrance”.
However, if you change location and go to the US page on the Vaseline website, you will notice that the product listed is called Vaseline® Healing Jelly Original and the only ingredient listed in it is “White Petrolatum Usp (100%)”.
Even platforms like Nykaa, Apolo Pharmacy and more did not carry the original version, instead, they had the other version that the LinkedIn post was talking about. However, Amazon India did have it in their collection.
Post Raised Debate
The LinkedIn post also raised debate in the comments section, with some people explaining that this is common with brands often selling multiple and varied versions of the same product.
However, others commented on why the original product was not being sold officially and this other one with added ingredients was being sold. The factor of transparency was also raised with some commenting that since Vaseline is synonymous with petroleum jelly, people in India are buying this, not realising that it’s not the pure version sold outside.
LinkedIn user Gopala Krishnan (GK) commented “This is a misleading post and quite meaningless. There is absolutely nothing wrong in selling multiple product variants under a brand and there is nothing “bad” or “unallowed” in developed countries about the ingredients I can see in both the products.”
To this, the original author replied “Please let me know when you find a link to buy the made in India Vaseline petroleum jelly. This is the only variant on offer. As an health expert, I’m sure you can tell what is wrong with so many kinds of fragrances for a product that has been synonymous with petroleum jelly that people use on open wounds, dry lips and what not.”
When the other user replied “As a consumer, you are expected to be literate enough to read the product labels and to understand what to use it for. And if a consumer lacks that literacy, to speak to someone who is literate who can translate it for them” the author responded “One of the reasons big brands will continue to fool the Indian consumer is that they have got people backing them. The term ‘vaseline’ is synonymously used for petroleum jelly and you can’t tell me that’s untrue. They can sell all products they wish to under the brand name, but an identical packaging with this ‘skin protection jelly’ wordplay means that they want it to be as similar as the petroleum jelly sold abroad.”
Another user Neha Sharma called out how this is nothing new writing “The best gets exported and we are left with sh*t. Even the Indian companies send the best out and keep the inferior sub standard product for us. Have you ever seen or eaten a ParleG biscuit outside of India? I am just mentioning a basic example.”
User Kashif Raza commented “Its not just about Vaseline. Its about everything. Try using Any product which is produced & Sold in India. And the ones which r being exported. U would find difference in Quality in both the products. -The cause is that Products have been Standardized by the Indian Govt bt no one is there to check the Quality. -Things which r being exported are Randomly quality checked by the Authorities over there as per their standard. – Another important thing is that Majority of Us are Price Conscious rather than being Quality Conscious. So target consumer for any company is the Majority.”
While there is nothing wrong with selling different versions of the same product, this does raise questions about why the original Vaseline which is pure petroleum and nothing else is not being sold in an official capacity in India.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: LinkedIn
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Vaseline, Vaseline India, Vaseline petroleum jelly, Vaseline India difference, Hindustan unilever, unilever, LinkedIn, LinkedIn post, viral, viral news
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, or copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
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