P.M. BRIEFING : Danger Seen in Tan-Linked Ads
Ads with sexy bronzed models should be required to carry health warnings that tanning can cause skin cancer, medical specialists said today.
The advertising, fashion and marketing industries are irresponsibly promoting tans, counteracting efforts to encourage Australians to reduce their skin-cancer risk, the Australasian College of Dermatologists said.
“I believe that each of these pictures should in fact carry a warning, similar to those found on cigarette packets: suntanning is a cancer hazard,” Dr. Alan Cooper, the college’s honorary secretary, told a news conference.
“When I see parents with very young babies on beaches with no protection, I think that is child abuse,” he added.
Cooper called for a concerted effort to promote the image that “the pale Australian is in, and the bronzed Aussie is out.”
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