Public Service Advertisements

Indoor Tanning is OutTM

Indoor tanning before the age of 35 has been associated with a significant increase in the risk of melanoma. Yet on an average day, more than one million Americans use indoor tanning salons. Research shows 70 percent of indoor tanners are female, primarily 16 to 29 years old, an age group that's particularly at risk for developing skin cancer.

To help educate the public, particularly young women, the Academy's 2008-2009 skin cancer public service advertisement (PSA) campaign features print, television and radio advertisements with the theme, "Indoor Tanning is OutTM." The ads encourage those who are using or considering using tanning salons to think twice about partaking in this risky behavior.

The print advertisements feature two women who are skin cancer survivors in their early 20s who used tanning beds. The ads feature the women urging their peers to learn the facts about indoor tanning and direct readers to the Academy's Web site for more of the survivors' stories. The photographer who shot the print advertisements also is a skin cancer survivor.

The television ads show a variety of young women telling their peers that indoor tanning is not as safe as they thought. The radio PSA is a contemporary folk song about the dangers of indoor tanning written by a 14-year-old girl and performed by a professional recording artist.