Government/Regulatory Matters

For those that missed the 2008 ITA Tanning World Expo, Rick Berman and his team presented the media-campaign plans for 2009. Building on the highly successful 2008 campaign, Berman presented a strategy that will continue the momentum that was achieved in fighting junk science and negative tanning hype. The 2009 campaign will move the focus online by using banner ads ...

With the increased media exposure about the benefits of vitamin D and sunlight, many tanning salons are jumping on the bandwagon and preaching the good news to their clients. However, it is essential to remember what we can and can’t say as an industry—you certainly don’t want Big Brother to come knocking on your salon door. RegulationThe Food and Drug ...

Recently, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took the Australian Tanning Association (and two companies operating tanning salons) to federal court, alleging that certain claims made by the association and the companies were false and misleading. Ironically, the end result was a ruling requiring Australian salons to post the warnings listed below—which are false and deceptive in and of themselves. ...

Are you prepared to handle reporters? Can you answer their probing questions intelligently? Education and preparedness are a tanning salon’s greatest assets when dealing with the media. Whether reporters identify themselves or go undercover posing as customers, a knowledgeable salon owner or employee can answer questions with tact and professionalism. Be proactive and educate your employees about handling the media. ...

National Advertising Campaign The launch of the much-anticipated advertising campaign in mid-March received a huge amount of national media attention. The campaign combined a dramatic, full-page New York Times ad with television commercials running in seven different markets. The goal of the campaign was to create ads that were controversial enough to convince the media to discuss the ads and ...