Fair and Lovely or Tanned and coloured Skin?

I come from India, where the sun shines bright everyday most of the year round. Honestly, not everyday you want to be skin burnt, but well its a part of the routine, you use sun screen cream or not, you can't avoid the tan! Not all of us value the sunshine as much as you would when you miss it in England. ;) I am being honest here, I didn't value it. :(

When I was little, I was convinced that beauty and fairness (fair skin) go hand in hand. Somehow television cosmetics adverts like 'FAIR and LOVELY' convinced you that you will get a job if you were fairer, you'll get the right partner if you are fairer. As if being fair should be the ultimate goal in your life. Yes, it felt like that. :) It might sound rather strange to someone from England, but it did. I was darker, and I was convinced that my life would transform if I got fairer. Well, after I started living in England (about 3 years now), I got a few shades lighter due to the weather. My life hasn't really transformed because of that! ;)
(Please watch Fair and lovely adverts (from India) on the You Tube and you'll know what I am on about.)

Here television cosmetics adverts are bombarded with the idea of people look better with tanned skin. Some girls are really obsessed about going regularly to Tanning Salons! Though they know there is risk of skin cancer involved! Is this all about just being what you are not?
What I mean by this is - It all comes down to wanting something in life you don't have and not valuing something that you have.

I got into a discussion with a (white) friend of mine. His opinion is that it has probably something to do with people here thinking of tanned as in related to returning from somewhere exotic. It makes them feel like they had just been on a holiday. Mind you, going on holiday to exotic places was a rare thing 30 years ago, when it was expensive to fly abroad.

Whats the conclusion? - here it is:

People want something what they don't have, and cosmetics industry is making lots of money from that! ;)