People-watching is absolutely one of my favourite pastimes on vacation … which is quite bizarre when I think about it, because it isn’t an activity I spend any time on at home. This is probably – no, definitely – because quite simply, there just aren’t enough hours in a typical day! And then I also have to ask myself, does anyone indeed have the time (or the inclination), other than on vacation, to spend hours at a time just watching the world walk by?
Yet I think if we did, we would have a much greater appreciation of ourselves, others and our surroundings. This in turn, I believe, would open our minds to the bigger pictures in life and question, indeed even challenge the status quo on so many issues – including, of course, tanning!
There is a role, and I suggest, a commercial opportunity for professional tanning salons to “sell” the message of responsible outdoor UV exposure.
After years of being bombarded by a melange of anti-tanning and safe-sun messages, Joe Public is at best overwhelmed and confused. On the one hand: “Don’t go in the sun without slathering on high factor sun protection cream,” and on the other: “Go out in the mid-day summer sun without any sun protection for 15 minutes.” These are polar opposite positions from organisations that are supposed to be advising the general public, yet are only causing confusion.
So when you’re on vacation, sitting and watching the world go by, how do people behave in the sun? Overall, my impression would have to be “fairly sensibly,” although, as with everything in life, there are always exceptions. And when this happens, the results can be horrendous.
My people-watching pastime has shown it’s fairly easy to determine that other influencing factors are in play; for example: alcohol consumption, falling asleep in the sun (perhaps as a result of the alcohol) or just plain stubbornness – people deliberately foregoing sunscreen and over-exposing in the sunshine.
We know that the vast majority of burning and UV overexposure occurs in the sunshine, during vacation and amongst certain demographics, i.e. young people aged 18-24. By coincidence, this age group represents the largest group of tanning bed users.
In a professional tanning salon, the risk of overexposure and burning is negligible. So it follows that this “at risk” group will know they can tan without burning if they follow professional tanning salon advice. So, why is it this same group ignores the advice of the sun-safety professionals? Confusion and disjointed messages, I suggest.
Rather than lambaste our industry, it would certainly seem to me the sun-safety campaigners should reconsider their strategies and give serious thought to future campaigns targeted at this age group through professional tanning salons. After all, we’re tanning professionals! At least, we can get these guys to listen and take our advice – a goal they’ve been trying to score for many years without success.
There is a role, and I suggest, a commercial opportunity for professional tanning salons to “sell” the message of responsible outdoor UV exposure. To date, we have somewhat confined advice and info to indoor tanning. But, perhaps the opportunity and dare I say, duty, is to ensure the promotion of responsible UV exposure whether received indoors or outdoors.
The big stumbling block as far as I can see is that the anti-tanning and sun-safety campaigners adopt and promote a zero tolerance for tanning beds. Yet, if they are genuinely serious about successfully changing the sunning behaviour patterns of the 18-24 age group, then we can offer them a real opportunity for success.
Mission impossible? Perhaps … but it’s got to be worth a shot! And if it doesn’t work out, there’s always the people-watching!
