2010s

The Wes Bonny Story tells the true story of a 26-year-young man who died of melanoma in March 2010.

Wes's story demonstrates that melanoma does affect young people. It also acknowledges that people may know how to protect themselves from the sun, but need to be more vigilant about sun protection.

Melanoma is one of the most serious cancers affecting young people and Wes's story is like that of any young Australian. He, with his family and friends, did things that many young Australians do such as playing sport, going to the beach and enjoying the iconic outdoor Australian lifestyle. He wasn't trying to get a tan and did his best to protect himself from the sun but despite his efforts, he was diagnosed with melanoma when he was just 23 years old. The melanoma was removed but it was already in his bloodstream and later spread to his brain.

Developed by the Cancer Institute NSW and funded by the State Government and VicHealth, SunSmart ran the campaign in Victoria from 2011 for 6 consecutive summers along with the Dark Side of Tanning campaign. 

In Victoria, Wes's story was successful in increasing young Victorians' perceived susceptibility to melanoma and the tagline, ‘You know what to do. Do It' has made people more aware of their ability to protect themselves from this preventable cancer.

Results suggest that young people have high levels of knowledge about skin cancer and sun protection, but need to be reminded to put what they know into practice.

Belinda’s Story tells the true story of a Victorian mum who died of melanoma in April 2016.

In 2012, Belinda was brushing her hair when she discovered a spot on her scalp which turned out to be a malignant melanoma.

After her diagnosis, Belinda became passionate about making other Victorians more aware of the importance of sun protection, and the very real consequences of skin cancer.

Belinda had numerous treatments for her melanoma here in Australia, and overseas. Unfortunately, these were unsuccessful. She passed away in hospital on Friday 1 April 2016 surrounded by her loving family.

With the aim of encouraging parents to increase their sun protection, the campaign provides an insight into the devastating impact skin cancer can have on an individual and their family.

The message is simple – be SunSmart at every age in life to reduce your risk of skin cancer.

“Anywhere you go UV will damage unprotected skin. And it just keeps adding up.”

It’s not just regular tanners or sunbakers who are at risk of skin cancer.

Your skin is like a memory bank – it remembers all the sunburns, all the tans and all the time you spent exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation, without sun protection.

Every time you expose your skin to UV radiation, changes take place in the structure and function of your skin cells. Over time, this skin damage can result in premature ageing, eye damage, sunspots, and at worst, skin cancer.

Once a skin cancer has developed, the damaged cells can spread through the bloodstream to other areas of the body.

The campaign aimed to increase awareness of the risk of developing skin cancer through incidental UV exposure, and reinforce effective sun protection behaviours.

Filmed in Melbourne, the advertisements were a shift away from the iconic summer beach scene, so often associated with sun protection and skin cancer campaigns.

UV. It all adds up warned of the danger of ‘incidental’ sun exposure, challenging the idea that it is only tanners or those with visible signs of sun damage that get skin cancer.

With funding from the Victorian Government and VicHealth, SunSmart implemented the UV. It all adds up campaign from 2015 for four consecutive years.