Band-Aid launches new range of diverse skin tone bandages

Company says it is committed to 'embracing the beauty of diverse skin'

Band-Aid announces range of diverse skin tone bandages (Band-Aid)

Band-Aid has announced it will be launching a range of bandages in a variety of skin tone colours in support with the fight against racism.

This week, the plaster brand, which is owned by Johnson & Johnson, shared a photo of the new bandages on Instagram, where it wrote: “We hear you. We see you. We’re listening to you.⁣

“We stand in solidarity with our black colleagues, collaborators and community in the fight against racism, violence and injustice. We are committed to taking actions to create tangible change for the black community.⁣”

According to the company, with the new bandages, which will be available in “light, medium and deep shades of brown and black skin tones” in 2021, it is showing its commitment to embracing the “beauty of diverse skin”.

“We are dedicated to inclusivity and providing the best healing solutions, better representing you,” Band-Aid continued, adding that it would also be making a donation to Black Lives Matter.

“We promise that this is just the first among many steps together in the fight against systemic racism,” the company concluded. “We can, we must and we will do better.”

Band-Aid’s new range, announced amid worldwide protests against racism and racial injustice, comes after customers have petitioned the company to make bandages in a more diverse range of colours for years.

In response to the new launch, many questioned why it took so long to offer the range of inclusive bandages, considering the company was founded in 1920.

“This should have been done decades ago,” one person commented.

Another said: “Thanks but it’s shameful this wasn’t done YEARS ago.”

However, this is not the first time Band-Aid has launched a range of skin tone-coloured plasters, according to NBC Chicago, which notes that the company previously launched a line of "perfect blend" bandages in 2005 that were later discontinued.

According to a spokesperson for the company, it is “excited to bring back a similar product with improved comfort and flexibility.”

Plaster company Tru-Colour has been offering bandages in a range of inclusive skin tone colours since 2014.