“It's a Beautiful Day for Cancer”: An Innovative Communication Strategy to Engage Youth in Skin Cancer Prevention

Abstract

Despite 3 decades of traditional media campaigns to raise awareness about skin cancer, Australian youth continue to exhibit poor sun protection behaviors. This article reports on a creative promotional strategy that used entertainment-education and social media marketing to stimulate dialogue and address barriers to sun protection. The campaign centered on an ironic music video launched across multiple media channels, with a focus on social media sites. Process evaluation included campaign reach; and online surveys and thematic analysis of online conversations appraised sun protection attitudes and behaviors. The video received 250,000 views in 4 months, and online surveys identified positive differences between those exposed and not exposed to the video in attitudes toward skin cancer risk, perceived ability to avoid skin cancer by regularly using sun protection, and several self-reported sun protection behaviors, but no differences in peer perceptions of tanning. Of those who watched the video, 25% forwarded the video to friends, 44% reported that the video changed the way they felt about sun protection, and 19% of spontaneous online comments reported an intention to change behavior. The campaign results suggest that entertaining, peer-to-peer messages can be used to engage youth with an important health message for skin cancer prevention.