TORONTO -- Band-Aids will now be available in a range of skin colours.

Johnson & Johnson announced on Instagram that it will launch a range of bandages in 鈥渓ight, medium and deep shades of Brown and Black skin tones that embrace the beauty of diverse skin.鈥�

The company also said it would be making a donation to Black Lives Matter as a first step in the fight against systemic racism.

The move comes 99 years into the history of Band-Aid and amid protests around the world sparked by the death of George Floyd during an arrest by police in Minneapolis and other recent incidents of violence and injustice against Black people.

鈥淲e stand in solidarity with our Black colleagues, collaborators and community in the fight against racism, violence and injustice,鈥� Johnson & Johnson posted under its Bandaidbrand account. 鈥淲e are committed to taking actions to create tangible change for the Black community.鈥�

The company did not say when the products would be available. CTVNews.ca has reached out to Johnson & Johnson鈥檚 Canadian headquarters to see if they will be sold here but has not yet had a response.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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One person who set up an online petition in 2015 asking Band-Aid to diversify its range said they had never thought about the colour of Band-Aids until a friend asked: "Do you think that it is a sign of a deeper societal problem that Band-Aid's 'flesh' colour defaults to Caucasian?"

https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/band-aids-for-all.html

Some commented on social media that the company鈥檚 move comes too late. Several pointed out that there are already companies providing bandages in diverse shades, including the Black-owned Browndages, and Tru-Colour, which was launched by an adoptive dad who wanted products for his son.

Last year, a series of emotional tweets by a Black man who used a bandage that matched his skin tone for the first time racked up more than 650,000 reactions on Twitter.

鈥淚t鈥檚 taken me 45 trips around the sun, but for the first time in my life I know what it feels like to have a 鈥榖and-aid鈥� in my own skin tone,鈥� Dominique Apollon tweeted. He posted photos of his bandaged finger.

鈥淵ou can barely even spot it in the first image. For real I鈥檓 holding back tears,鈥� Apollon wrote. He said that the seemingly trivial action he鈥檇 taken since childhood was 鈥渟elf-administered #antiblackness鈥� and that finding a bandage that matched his skin made him feel 鈥渧alued.鈥�