While everyone is aware that too much exposure to the sun can be dangerous to skin and health, it isn’t always easy to get kids to use sunscreen. They have to stop playing, get all greasy, and generally put up a fuss. After all, the sunburn only happens later, after leaving the beach, so why worry about it now?
Nivea and agency FCB Brazil teamed to create an innovative campaign to teach kids about the importance of using sunscreen to protect against harmful UV rays at the beach. To do this, they created Nivea Dolls, using a UV-sensitive material that turns red unless a sunblock is used. The boy and girl dolls were given to families on the beach.
When the kids put sunscreen on the dolls, their skin stayed clear; no sunscreen turned the material into a red-faced, sunburned doll. Not only did the toy show kids immediately how sunscreen helps protect their skin, it also distracted kids so that parents could apply sunscreen on them. No red faces at this beach!
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Show the video: https://youtu.be/StvAe98BfwY
- Discuss other things that can adversely impact children’s health such as junk food, too much TV, etc.
- Divide students into teams. Have each team develop an innovative campaign to help educate children about health and safety.
- Debrief the exercise.
Source: Ad Age Daily, C/Net, other news sources
