Computertan.com

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK, with 1,800 people dying from it each year - 35% more than in Australia. Awareness of skin cancer and its causes are very low in the UK, especially amongst UK youth. Research by the Teenage Cancer Trust found 41% of teens never used sun cream and 50% of teens admitted to not being concerned about skin cancer.

The Karen Clifford Skin Cancer Charity (Skcin) sought to develop a campaign that would actively engage cynical teens; to communicate to them the dangers of skin cancer and importantly, point them in the direction of those qualified to provide guidance to help avoid it. The idea was to create and elaborate hoax centering around a California-based company which has developed technology allowing you to get a tan via your computer screen on a website, www.computertan.com.

The charity drove traffic to the site by offering free online tanning sessions. This was seeded online as well as being publicised across key blogs together with an extensive national press PR campaign. 25,000 flyers were distributed and a film was displayed on digital cross-track panels in London Underground stations and in taxis. In a second wave of activity, an iPhone application was launched and sent out to our email database with supporting online advertising.  The site hosted an infomercial about the company & technology. Visitors were invited to view tanning products and get a free session. The screen appeared to show tanning lamps for twenty seconds and then it becomes apparent the company and technology are a hoax. Images depicting the ravaging effects of skin cancer appear on screen counting out the number of people that die each day. At this point the user is introduced to the people behind the campaign, Skcin.

Within 24hrs of launch the site received 30,000 hits, rising to over 200,000 hits in 4 weeks. It had well over 1m hits inside 3 months becoming an online phenomenon.