Is it ever okay to endorse a fairness cream?

Probably not.

But one Indian TVC came close to overturning the 'gora is good' perception that plagues the subcontinent. Except that it inexplicably veered into the stereotypical direction right at the end.

According to Miss Malini, Emraan Hashmi stars in the latest MeGlow commercial. In the ad, he advises a down-on-his-luck friend to apply the fairness cream before his next job interview. The visibly brighter candidate strides into his next interview, full of confidence, but is still turned down.

Outside, he meets a suit-clad Emraan Hashmi who points to the successful job candidate, a decidedly brown-skinned man, and delivers this nugget of wisdom: "Gora honay say naukri milti. Qualifications say milti hai."

So after decades of ads that have associated fairness with competence, this one finally put its foot down and said it's not true. Yay?

It was too early to hurrah.

Hashmi goes on to say,"...magar nikhaar tou wapis agaya, hmmm?" as he gestured towards a woman making eyes at the candidate.

Say what?

So let's just this straight: You can't get the job, but you can get the girl? Is that the message MeGlow is trying to send?

While they've dispensed with the absolutely preposterous notion that fairness makes you a better job candidate, MeGlow is still propagating the notion that it makes you better looking.

So really, nothing's changed.

Was the absurdity of this last-minute twist just a publicity stunt? Or a way to own the competing brand endorsed by Shah Rukh Khan, whose lookalike (if you squint your eyes) plays the job candidate in the ad?

Either way, the MeGlow commercial drives home the point that there's no right way for celebrities to peddle fairness products.