New York – A new advertisement where the text reads, “My sister accidentally killed herself. She died of skin cancer,” is financed by sunscreen manufacturer Neutrogena, and warns that “left unchecked, skin cancer can be fatal,” while encouraging them to use sunscreen and watch their skin.
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But many doctors don’t want to be associated with that, and say it is too early to suggest that people are endangering their lives by not using sunscreen. “It’s just not that simple,” said Dr. Barry Kramer, associate director for disease prevention at the National Institute of Health. Dr. Kramer adds that while we do have evidence that sunscreen will reduce the risk of other forms of skin cancer, there is little evidence that sunscreens will protect you against melanoma which is the most common form of cancer.
The financial motives of Neutrogena in paying for these ads (although it’s name is not mentioned in the advertisement) complicates the debate.
Dr. J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society on the ads’ aggressive nature, “We have taken some license in taking that message and using it the way we’ve used it because that’s the way to get the message to our target audience.”
Regarding research the ACS did with focus groups, they learned that “To get the message through to me, you have to shock me and get my attention.” [topcancernews]
