A morning TV show in Pakistan has drawn criticism for putting models in blackface and for its inherent message that fair skin is more beautiful.

As the BBC captured on Twitter, show "Jago Pakistan Jago" featured participants painting models with fairer skin in darker makeup – which is blackface – in order to show how bridal makeup looks on dark skin.

Yesterday’s episode of "Jago Pakistan Jago" (Wake up Pakistan) included a segment where participants were tasked with "turning" dark-skinned girls into "beautiful brides". pic.twitter.com/YSjHCxB9Dc

— BBC Monitoring (@BBCMonitoring) March 16, 2018

Fair-skinned models were painted with makeup to demonstrate how bridal makeup looks on darker skin. pic.twitter.com/WmiHcbMWKP

— BBC Monitoring (@BBCMonitoring) March 16, 2018

Many on social media called out the show for insinuating that creating beautiful bridal makeup would be any more of a task for dark skinned women as it would be for those with fairer skin tones.

Hey #SanamJung, making dark-skinned women look beautiful isn't the difficult challenge you think it is.https://t.co/zlvqqMobSF
pic.twitter.com/klrwAttyqc

— Images (@dawn_images) March 15, 2018

Hey #SanamJung, making dark-skinned women look beautiful isn't the difficult challenge you think it is.https://t.co/zlvqqMobSF
pic.twitter.com/klrwAttyqc

— Images (@dawn_images) March 15, 2018

Shameful.
Black skin is beautiful.
Have they seen Nefertiti.

— adazion (@ZionAdada) March 16, 2018

Images, a Pakistani lifestyle publication, reported that the segment was part of a competition series in which contenders were told to darken the skin tone of light skinned women with a makeup stick foundation with a shade called "Negro."

As countries around the world grapple with colorism, the Asia-Pacific region was reported to have the largest and fastest-growing markets for skin-lightening products, according to Quartz.

There's been outrage in Pakistan after a TV show darkened the faces of models to show how makeup looks on dark skin tones. pic.twitter.com/fLLUNnMKFP

— BBC Monitoring (@BBCMonitoring) March 16, 2018

Asian skin lightening

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week