This has caused some amount of controversy, mostly concerning more nefarious products containing known poisons that have at times seared the skin from unsuspecting women’s faces, but also because of the arrantly unfashionable way some Thai skin products companies have advertised their pseudo-magic formulas. These range from face whitening to vagina bleaching. In one such ad, probably the most insulting of a very bad bunch, Verena L-Gluta Berry Plus advertises its so-called beauty drink by showing an unhappy black bear speaking to a pale-skinned female doctor who explains to the bear that it took millions of years for its kind to evolve into a white bear. Fortunately, she tells the sad bear, with the use of beauty drinks evolution can happen overnight. Proof of this is her father’s appearance in the office; he has dark skin, and is actually Negroid. Needless to say the ad proved to be lusterless among some of the critical Thai population, but that didn’t prevent many more ill-thought out ads containing ridiculous prejudicial notions following it. The advertising, which often shamelessly exploits people’s (mostly women) insecurities, are part of a growing trend. Global research says the skin whitening industry in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East is booming, and may be worth an estimated $23 billion by 2020.