Don’t laugh, but apparently, I am quite good at telling jokes and stories – not something I have been particularly aware of, in all honesty. But then when I come to think of it, in social settings with friends and colleagues, I am often asked how it is that I am always able to regale with a deluge of humorous anecdotes. Perhaps it is “my thing”? If it is, I am pleased about it.
However, one thing I know for a fact is that I could never have made a career out of story-telling. Professional story-tellers will often find themselves at the cut and thrust of presenting information that they know, or at the very least should know, is not all as it seems.
And I am not talking about fairy tales in la-la land, although I guess if the cap fits … So what then, I hear you ask, am I actually talking about? Well, are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin. I am talking about the fantastic narrative around our industry and indeed around UV exposure, in general. Here is just one example: did you know that somehow, tanning in the sun is more responsible, indeed safer, than tanning on a tanning bed? I know – it does sound like a fairy tale, doesn’t it?
It’s no fairy tale – the typical judgments against our industry are mostly due to misinformation and are untrue.
And you really need to be careful folks, because did you know that there is no such thing as a safe tan? And as the cherry on the cake, did you know you need to wear your sunglasses every day of the year, even when it is cloudy?
Over the last few weeks, I have been analysing and engaging with some of the more recent tropes of the anti-tanning lobby’s story-telling. And my conclusion is that they have absolutely nothing new to say. They are simply regurgitating the same old statistics and mantras – well, apart perhaps from the sunglasses story – whilst along the way happily but disingenuously ignoring all the studies, regulations and information to the contrary. Journalists, politicians and even some doctors are all too time-pressed to validate such claims, so they simply regurgitate the nostrums of the cult. The critical point here is that the public are being misinformed by these misleading statements that have been proven untrue or outdated.
The typical judgements against the professional tanning industry are mostly due to misinformation and are untrue. Stepping back into fairy tales, it is a classic example of the proverbial Cinderella slipper, trying to find cherry-picked facts to support their ideology, rather than the facts that determine their stance.
If only UV exposure from sunshine was as well-regulated as professional tanning bed use; there can be no doubt we would see far less incidence of overexposure and burning. And as we all know, it is burning – NOT responsible tanning – that will increase the risk of melanoma. And how does the vast majority of overexposure and burning take place? From tanning in the sun where the UV exposure is uncontrolled … And that is not a fairy tale.
As an industry, we have a world-class library full of amazing stories of success, education, evolution and importantly for this arena, science. We have our own narrative to communicate and spread around the world. Perhaps we should seriously look at cultivating our own brand of story-telling – based on fact, not fiction.
And I do love a happy ending!
