Charity the British Skin Foundation is highlighting the dangers of sun damage in its latest campaign.
Devised by creative agency Wonderhood Studios and titled ‘The Burnable Billboard’, the activation is a multi-location digital out-of-home campaign that showcases the harmful effects of too much sun exposure.
It will appear in high footfall areas in three UK cities. There will be an all-day takeover of Meridian Steps at London’s Westfield Stratford, a three-hour display at The Totem in West Quay, Southampton and a display on Loop screens in Manchester.
“The Burnable Billboard provides the public with a powerful visual representation of the harm UV rays can inflict on the skin, even in the UK climate,” said Lisa Bickerstaffe, head of communications at the British Skin Foundation.
“At the British Skin Foundation, we’re committed to shifting the often-casual mindset around sun safety, that can lead to life threatening conditions such as melanoma skin cancer. By presenting scientific information in such an innovative and creative way, we are able to educate and inform the public on the importance of protecting their skin.”
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The marketing drive uses technology from Ocean to update the screens with the exact UV level in that location. It shows healthy skin beginning to change as UV levels increase, burning and eventually blistering.
It was created in collaboration with a dermatologist and the technical team at The Gardening. Club.
Tomas Roope, AI technologist and creative director at The Gardening. Club, said: “Beginning with studio-captured images of healthy, undamaged skin, we worked closely with a dermatologist to create keyframes illustrating each stage of sun damage. Then, using other AI tools, we generated thousands of interpolated frames to illustrate how unprotected skin is damaged by exposure to the sun.”
The campaign comes as research from the not-for-profit showed 38% of respondents reported being sunburnt due to recent spring weather. It also highlighted 31% of people “couldn’t be bothered” to apply sunscreen and 25% stated they wanted to tan and overdid it.
Additional research from Cancer Research UK highlighted that only 27% of Brits are taking proper precautions to protect their skin from the sun.
Bird, executive creative director at Wonderhood Studios, added: “This project has been an epic effort from everyone involved. Tad and Indie’s initial idea was so simple and powerful. It’s been fascinating to bring it to life with the power of AI combined with expert human knowledge of the effects of UV on skin types.
“We’re hoping the campaign will remind Brits that we still need sun protection, even if we think we don’t ever see the sun.”
