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Skincare company Vaseline has introduced a skin-lightening application on Facebook, enabling users to whiten their face in profile pictures.

The application, Transform Your Face On Facebook With Vaseline Men, pledges in just a few clicks to make you 'visibly fairer' and 'reduce five types of dark spots'.

The tool has been developed by advertising company Omnicom and is intended to promote a new range of men's skin-lightening creams. The campaign is fronted by Bollywood actor Shahid Kapur, with advertisements bearing his face divided into light and dark halves.

Skin-lightening products are proving very popular with both men and women in India, where there is a cultural bias for fairer skin, and cosmetic firms Garnier, L'Oréal and Nivea also offer their own products in this market.

Facebook users must simply upload a photograph to the application, though curiously they are invited to 'avoid one that is too dark', delineate their face with markers, lighten the chosen portion of the image and then 'pump' any particularly dark spots with a graphic of a Vaseline whitening face cream. Finally, you can even create an avatar with your paler profile, dressed for an interview, a date or for swanning down the red carpet.

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