Winner
R UV Ugly?
Summary of work
Using sunbeds just once or more a month increases the risk of malignant melanoma by more than 50%. Young people, particularly those from lower socioeconomic groups continue to use them in their quest to be tanned. Our campaign appealed to the vanity of sunbed users by physically showing them the damaging effect overexposure to UV rays was having on their own skin to change their attitudes to sunbed use and persuade them to stop using them. The campaign had a convincing impact on our audience with 75% of sunbed users who, before the scan, said they expected to use sunbeds more or the same in the future, changing their minds immediately after their scan by saying they expected to use them less or not at all. Encouragingly follow up data indicated that this intention was sustained with 46% of respondents reporting they’d stopped using sunbeds, or use sunbeds less, eight weeks after the campaign.
Judges’ comments
The R UV Ugly? campaign by Cancer Research UK was a standout winner within this category. There are so many great things to say about this campaign. It really understood its target group and it perfectly leveraged their insights and their motivations to engage with the programme. It took a bold and genuinely innovative approach to social media and it offered sustained outcomes focusing on the long term. Added to that, the outcomes were so clear and so impactful that the Department of Health has chosen to continue with this initiative moving forwards. A true legacy for a great programme.
