Indoor Tanning: ’08 State Of The Industry Report

Hirsch also says the paradigm of the business is shifting, which means more of the U.S. population should be tanning--and salons above the 37th parallel should be advising clients that there is less sunlight in their areas from September through March.

In line with that idea, salons nationwide were urged to promote February as National Vitamin D Deficiency Month, and salon operators were encouraged to stay on top of the latest scientific studies regarding the benefits of vitamin D and to use them in advertising campaigns.

Another pioneer in this area is Robbie Segler, owner of Darque Tan, which operates more than 90 salons in Texas, Colorado, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Arizona, Nevada and Florida. Segler has been a huge vitamin D advocate and launched a highly successful marketing and advertising campaign this year that included billboards touting the benefits of tanning and vitamin D. Segler has been an outspoken advocate for vitamin D and is committed to educating other salon owners about what they can and cannot say in regard tod health claims, what they should say about vitamin D, how the tanning industry can collectively promote vitamin D and much more. 

The Berman Effect

The 2007 State of the Industry Report urged the industry to join together and become more active in anticipating, monitoring and fighting these tanning restrictions. That same message was driven home at the 2007 ITA Tanning World Expo, when the industry decided to hire a public-relations firm to help spread the good news about tanning. Berman and Co.’s work in public relations and issue advocacy challenges commonly held assumptions and encourages people to make up their own mind about controversial issues.

The long-term goal of the campaign is to increase the demand for indoor tanning by jumpstarting a backlash against the current anti-tanning hype and increasing awareness of the positive benefits of vitamin D. In addition, the UV Foundation is working on some groundbreaking studies that will lend credibility to the benefits of tanning.

In March, the ITA launched its much-anticipated public-education campaign. Complete with national ads running on cable television and a national newspaper ad, the ITA is focused on confronting the anti-tanning propaganda that currently pervades the public’s perception of the industry. The campaign is designed to incite a debate attacking the “junk science” that opposition in the dermatology and sunscreen industries continue to push.

The goal of the campaign was to create ads that were controversial enough to convince the media to discuss the ads and create a debate about the perceived risks and proven benefits of tanning.

The campaign was featured nationally on Good Morning America, Inside Edition, CNN, Fox News and Good Morning with Julie and Mike, as well as on more than 100 local television news programs. In addition to showing the ads and speaking with ITA representatives, most of the appearances included statements by the opposition—but for the first time, they were responding to industry  claims and its message, instead of the other way around.