After nearly 30 years in this industry, I can’t seem to shake off the annual alarm set to remind me of the challenges we still face.
Some good news from the other side of the Pond – the season is upon us! For the most part, this time of year pleases me. Now that the clocks have gone forward an hour, we are officially in British summertime; yet, what this actually means in terms of potential sunshine over the next few months is anyone’s guess. Although I’m not really complaining, as a lack of sunshine very often leaves people craving the warmth of UV on their skin, ergo busier salons! The days are lighter longer as we head toward summer – Joe Public turns its thoughts towards summer holidays and the product orders here in the office start coming in thick and fast as salon traffic picks up after the winter slump.
So overall, all is good. And yes, there is a “but” coming and here it is … BUT, every year, we see an attempt by many, either futile or hard-hitting, to attack our industry around this time of year. Thankfully, as a result of the ongoing efforts of our trade association, we have in recent years managed at best to prevent or at least dilute a number of anti-tanning stories hitting the media. But after nearly three decades in this industry, I can’t seem to shake off the annual alarm set to remind me of the challenges we still face. I doubt we’ll ever see a complete cessation of all negative populist stories, devoid of substance and any journalistic integrity, not least whilst we still have members of the public looking for their moment of “celebrity.”
And I guess for the purposes of this article, you could call it somewhat fortuitous: a story was recently brought to my attention about a “poacher turned gamekeeper” (our tabloid media revel in this style of story). Grabbing firmly with both hands onto her opportunity for five minutes in the media spotlight, a former tanning salon owner had apparently changed her tune and is now warning about the alleged “dangers” of UV exposure. Okay, on reflection and to be fair, the story which appeared in the woman’s local paper did in fact refer a great deal to the amount of UV exposure one gets on holiday and how important it is to wear SPF creams and not “over-do it” in the sun. That’s good advice, I’m not querying that; but I am questioning why it made the local newspaper – and then the penny dropped when I read the headline: “Former tanning shop owner warns against tanning bed use.” Well, I guess the headline did its job, as it certainly got me to read the whole story! Suffice to say it offered nothing of any substance or validity about tanning bed use. However, it turns out the person in the story is now a spokesperson for the British Skin Foundation, which, rather interestingly, is largely funded by sun protection, hair care and cosmetics companies. And you’d never imagine that she now claims to spend about $4,000 a year on sun protection products for her hair and skin, which she applies daily “come snow, rain or sun.” Is it just me or can you smell a mega-sized whiff of commercial propaganda here?
I would be extremely surprised if this story has had any impact, given its overt and skewed commercial approach. Yet, I still find it immensely irritating that elements of the media are either happy with or just too lazy to care about such obvious manipulation that results in unjustifiable attacks on one industry at the apparent behest of another.
So if you don’t mind, I won’t be switching my alarm off just yet.
