Patanjali
Pictured: Ramdev gestures to his supporters at the Ramlila grounds in New Delhi in 2012.Reuters

Dark is not beautiful, well at least for Baba Ramdev's Patanjali beauty products that say dark skin is an ailment. Patanjali's beauty cream products have come under fire after the Haridwar-based firm called dark complexion an ailment.

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This came to light after a Twitter user by the handle @beastoftraal posted a beauty cream ad which talked about the "ailment." According to the description of the ad, the beauty product heals dry skin and other ailments, including dark complexion. The description also says that the cream will give you the confidence of 100 percent natural beauty.

"Possesses the benefits of wheat germ oil, turmeric, aloe-vera, and basil etc. which are extremely beneficial for skin ailments like dry skin, dark complexion and wrinkles. Patanjali beauty cream is not just another cream but is a skin nourishment tonic and treatment. It gives you the confidence of 100% natural beauty. Try it yourself and suggest to your family and friends," the description reads.

This ad has offended millions of Indians, who are against skin-lightening products.

However, Patanjali spokesperson SK Gupta Tijarawala called it an error and said that the ad was translated from Hindi into English and it doesn't read the same in the original poster. "It's just a translation error from the Hindi ad on the same product. The Hindi ad has no mention of the dark complexion," he tweeted.

Karthik, who pointed out the ad on Twitter, defended saying that complexion is just a natural colour and it should not be treated as a problem. Even Twitter users trolled Ramdev and called the ad "outrageous."

"For a brand that almost always starts its advertising by bad-mouthing 'those MNC companies' as looters and calls itself as '100% purity and 100% charity' (the tactic sure seems to be working for them given their spectacular success in the recent past), Patanjali seems to be toeing the line of MNC beauty brands in framing dark skin as a problem," Karthik with the handle @beastoftraal tweeted.

"Only difference - MNC brands have, over time, become clever about how they state this in their communication. Here, Patanjali openly calls 'dark complexion' as a 'skin ailment'. This is severely ironic given the number of people in India who are naturally born with the so-called 'dark' complexion. The other irony is that the so-called MNC made 'dark complexion' into a confidence/success problem and Patanjali, a proudly Indian brand, is continuing to use that message despite seemingly being against the 'MNC' brands," he added.

Several other Twitter users also made fun of Ramdev and said he needs to apologise. Some even said that Ramdev should start "using it first to cure his ' dark complexion ' skin ailments and mental disorders."

Check out the Twitter reactions below:

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