As the summer vacation season comes to a close, it’s time for us to pack away the picnic hamper and hang up our sun hats for yet another year. It may come as no surprise that here in the UK, neither had much opportunity for use during the summer of 2017.
Obsessed as we Brits are with the weather, never is this truer than during the summer months – which is particularly bizarre, given that we haven’t had a summer of any note on the weather front for as far back as I can recall. A few days of sunshine dotted here and there generates false hope that we will be able to spend lazy hours in the garden, have friends ‘round for BBQs and yes, even GET A TAN!
So, is it any wonder that when the sun does decide to come out from behind the clouds, we Brits head outdoors for hours on end, often without adequate, if any, sun protection in order to “make the most of it!” And it’s these scenes in the parks, on the beaches in our own backyards that, to my mind, make a mockery of all the millions of UK pounds spent every year on sun awareness and SPF cream campaigns.
The fact that our bodies do indeed need and crave ultraviolet light is, of course, one of the reasons why millions of us flock to southern Europe each year for our guaranteed dose of summer sun. Whoever said our bodies don’t crave sunshine has never experienced a departure lounge at any UK based airport during the summer months.
Let me be clear. I’m not saying sun awareness campaigns shouldn’t run, I’m just suggesting that the messages are all too often ignored, so perhaps it’s time for an overview of what the key messages are and how they are communicated. The fact that, as a nation, we don’t like being told what to do clearly has something to do with this – after all, who wants to live in a nanny state? More importantly, however, is the reality that people are generally fed up with, if not confused by, the cacophony of mixed messages delivered on a daily basis. When it comes to what we should eat and drink, how much exercise we should take and of course, whether or not we should expose ourselves to ultraviolet light are just some of life’s everyday actions that are under constant scrutiny and review across all forms of media.
On the UV front, a level of conditioning has permeated the British psyche over the decades affirming that in the summer months, we should be tanned – even though these days, we are less likely to ever get guaranteed sunshine! So, perhaps this is one of the reasons why UK tanning salons are at their busiest during the summer months. Clearly, either side of summer, salons are less busy.
So, here’s the challenge for operators and maybe not just those in the UK. We all love to tan in the summer. Those who use tanning salons know how easy it is to get a guaranteed, fantastic tan from a well-run facility – so, what would it take to put into effect a general shift of populace to desiring a year-round tan? Of course, there is already a significant percentage of tanners who use salons year-round, but imagine if we could maintain or at least start to extend the duration of the summer surge, particularly in sun deprived locations …
But, I guess that’s a different type of tan extender altogether! (Pun clearly intended.) ν
What would it take to put into effect a general shift of populace to desiring a year-round tan?
