The target audience for Free Killer Tan was women aged 18-24. Large-scale independent studies have found that this demographic is the most likely to tan, and melanoma is the second most common cancer for this group.

Indoor tanning is an epidemic. Despite the well-documented links between tanning beds and deadly cancers, one million American young adults tan every day.

Information isn’t the problem; hundreds of major media outlets covered the U.S. Surgeon General’s 2014 Call-to-Action that outlined the dangers of indoor tanning. At the very least, most people accept that UV radiation from tanning beds is harmful, and yet young people continue to tan at alarming rates.

It was evident that traditional approaches weren’t enough. To truly to make a long-lasting, life-changing impact, it was important to make this issue personal and hard-hitting.

It’s November, and an early touch of winter has descended on New York City. For the first time since summer, people are looking to escape the coming cold. As crowds walk through Times Square, street team members hand out flyers for a free killer tan at Vitamin Sun, Midtown Manhattan’s newest salon.

One by one, unsuspecting tanners enter the tanning salon. They are excited for their free tan and make small talk about the new store. Many admire and compliment the design and décor, never suspecting that they’re being filmed with hidden cameras capturing every second of their experience.

This calm is shattered the moment they step into the backroom. Nervous laughter, double-takes, turning and running, zombie-like walking forward. Every tanner has a different reaction to this shocking surprise—their own funeral. The scene is complete with organ music, mourners, wreaths, and a tanning-bed coffin framed with their very own picture.

All make their way up front to the coffin where a board-certified dermatologist engages each tanner to help them process the experience and understand the deadly links between melanoma and indoor tanning.

Before leaving, tanners share their feelings on this experience, with many pledging never to tan again.

The goal was to reach 100,000 18-24 year-old women before Spring Break holiday. During this period many young women get their first indoor tan—a “base”—in anticipation of their trip.

We focused in on this key demographic because large-scale independent studies have found them the most likely to tan, and melanoma is the second most common cancer for this group. We wanted to intervene before serious tanning damage was done—and hopefully avoid it completely.

Our mock tanning salon opened in late November, at the beginning of indoor tanning season.

We recruited would-be tanners with a street team and online. Once inside our tanning salon, unsuspecting patrons discovered they were actually attending their own funeral—complete with a tanning-bed casket. Everyone’s experiences were captured on hidden camera and shared online with the world, starting February 3rd (the time before Spring Break).

The video was placed on the freekillertan.com microsite where visitors sent friends coupons for a free killer tan that linked back to the video. The video was also placed on Youtube.

A targeted post on Facebook targeting 18-24 year old women invited them to watch the video and join the conversation. On Twitter, we connected with sororities and fraternities, resulting in demonstrations and live events around the country to ban tanning beds from campuses.

Within 2 weeks, the online video was viewed in every country in the world.

• Over 120 million media impressions

• 1 million Facebook video views

o 9.5k likes

o 7.6k shares

o 2k comments

• 1 million Youtube video views

• 25K unique visitors to www.FreeKillerTan.com

• Hundreds of TV stations (national and local) and every online social news outlets covered the story

• University students across the country petitioned to ban indoor tanning on campus

• Thousands of 18-24 year olds publicly proclaimed that they will never tan again:

“Watch this because I care about you”

“I’ll never tan again”

“What an INCREDIBLE MESSAGE. I got chills”

“I’m going to start spray tanning”

“Stop tanning, please!”

And thousands more...

The goal was to reach 100,000 18-24 year-old women before Spring Break holiday. During this period many young women get their first indoor tan—a “base”—in anticipation of their trip.

We focused in on this key demographic because large-scale independent studies have found them the most likely to tan, and melanoma is the second most common cancer for this group. We wanted to intervene before serious tanning damage was done—and hopefully avoid it completely.

Indoor tanning is an epidemic. Despite the well-documented links between tanning beds and deadly cancers, one million American young adults tan every day.

Information isn’t the problem; hundreds of major media outlets covered the U.S. Surgeon General’s 2014 Call-to-Action that outlined the dangers of indoor tanning. At the very least, most people accept that UV radiation from tanning beds is harmful, and yet young people continue to tan at alarming rates.

It was evident that traditional approaches weren’t enough. To truly to make a long-lasting, life-changing impact, it was important to make this issue personal and hard-hitting.