Why Melanoma Canada Swapped Life Guards for ‘Burn Guards’
Here’s a fact for you. Every year, approximately three times more Canadians die from skin cancer than they do from drowning. While your initial response may be one of surprise, ultimately, it does make sense. Not everyone goes swimming or spends time near water, but virtually everyone experiences at least a period of the day in the sunlight. (It’s very hard to avoid going outside, after all.)
This fact doesn’t get talked about nearly enough. Admittedly, drowning is a pretty extraordinary circumstance, in large part due to the fact that there are so many precautionary measures in place. Be it at beaches or swimming pools, life guards are always on standby, from a young age we’re taught the importance of knowing how to swim, and the majority of Canadians are instilled with information on how to handle the situation should they see someone in need of help. But, why is something far more lethal - and similarly preventable - not getting media attention?
Keenly aware of this disparity, and ready to shake this up, the team at McCann Worldwide Canada partnered up with Melanoma Canada. Creating ‘BurnWatch’, this campaign saw the introduction of ‘Burn Guards’, a special group trained by dermatologists to save beachgoers from spending too much time in the sun (without sunscreen). Taking place at Port Dover Beach, this activation also saw the installation of lifeguard towers in the water, allowing the Burn Guards to be on the lookout for the larger at-threat demographic: those at risk of ‘drowning in UV rays’.
To learn more about how this came to pass, LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with McCann Worldgroup Canada’s chief creative officer Josh Stein, group strategy director Liam Brown, creative directors Athina Lalljee and Fernando Salvador, and Melanoma Canada’s CEO Falyn Katz for a chat.
LBB> What was the brief, and what immediate ideas came to mind?
Josh> This wasn't actually a traditional brief. Instead, it came to life thanks to a couple of creatives that stumbled upon an important stat one day. To be honest, a simple version of this was the first idea, and it was easy to see that it was going to be the best, regardless of how long we worked on it for.
LBB> Tell us more about this research! What were the main takeaways, and how did these insights factor into the creative?
Liam> As we dug into the numbers, we found that over 80,000 people in Canada are diagnosed with skin cancer every year. And, 1,300 will die from it… just from melanoma.
The mortality rate struck us, as you don’t really see it in the news. What you DO see is car accidents, fires, and - especially in the summertime - drownings at public beaches. So, we wanted to see what should really be in the public eye more. As it turns out, in Canada each year, over three times the number of people die from melanoma compared to drowning (roughly 400 per year according to the Canadian Drowning Prevention Coalition) - a fact that led us to the insight that the most dangerous part of the beach isn’t the water… It’s the sun.
LBB> Where did the idea of putting lifeguard towers in the water, and in general, inverting practices come from? And what made it the perfect solution to draw attention to this fact?
Josh> We liked this idea because it’s such a powerful thing to just take an object that people are really familiar with, and just kind of alter it slightly. In this case, changing where the towers were situated made the environment feel slightly off, and in turn, the tower unignorable. It didn’t take too much time for beachgoers to be curious about why things weren’t quite the same!
LBB> And how did you actually bring this to life? What went into training the guards, developing the gear, and installing the towers?
Athina & Fernando> Let’s start with the tower, which was a bit more complicated than we had anticipated. Keeping such a large structure stable in the water took a fair amount of research and testing. Our production partners at The Deli had to test the waters, quite literally, and measure the safest depth and materials required to secure the tower with minimal movement.
As for the remaining gear, we worked with Melanoma Canada’s sponsor, UVskinz, to develop sun-safe uniforms for the guards. The Burn Guards’ uniforms feature UPF 50+ sun protective apparel that blocks out 98% of the sun’s harmful UVA and UVB rays, and are paired with a ‘burn aid’ bag that includes binoculars, a whistle, sun safety tips, and Neutrogena sunscreen.
The team at Melanoma Canada was in charge of training the Burn Guards. The session included an hour-long presentation developed by dermatologists, followed by a multiple choice test which is also available to the public on BurnWatch.ca. It only takes about four minutes to complete and comes with a dermatologist-approved certificate, so we urge everyone to take it and become a certified Burn Guard!
LBB> You originally started at Port Dover Beach. Why was this ideal, and since then, have you spread to other locations?
Athina & Fernando> Port Dover Beach is a great, high-traffic location, but, more importantly, it’s privately-owned. This made securing permits a bit more achievable within our timeline.
Beyond that, we’re still in the midst of securing more beaches to bring the ‘BurnWatch’ activation to; the goal is to take it across Canada and beyond this summer – we just have to swim past some red tape.
LBB> The accompanying spot is super fun! What was the shooting process like?
Athina & Fernando> We knew we wanted to lean into some of the classic ‘Baywatch’ tropes without being too silly (melanoma is a serious issue, after all), so planning for the spot and training video was all about balance. Our goal was to be entertaining enough for people to watch the content, but informative enough for them to understand the weight of the issue. Casting our Burn Guards was particularly fun, and actually helped define our tone – they each came in with their own take on the scripts and made clear, through their performances, what was too far on the funny scale.
The shooting process was definitely untraditional, as we had to capture the event alongside content for the videos. An ambitious shot list paired with unpredictable weather made for extra long days, but we were lucky to have a great crew and talent who kept things fun.
LBB> Importantly, how did people react to the Burn Guards? Did they implement better routines as a result?
Athina & Fernando> Overall, the reactions were pretty great (who can say no to free sunscreen?). But freebies aside, people really appreciated the effort being made to raise awareness about sun safety and were quick to visit the Mole Mobile (Melanoma Canada’s screening unit, which was onsite during the activation). We also received significant traffic, and encountered many people who shared their stories about past melanoma scares. Meanwhile, the kids were more interested in climbing the ‘BurnWatch’ tower… Good thing our Burn Guards had whistles!
LBB> What challenges have you faced during this project? And what lessons did you learn in the process?
Athina & Fernando> As it turns out, putting towers on a beach can be political, which is why we went with a privately-owned beach for our first location.
Beyond that, there’s no handbook for activations, and that’s OK!
LBB> How does this campaign fit into Melanoma Canada’s brand strategy for 2023 and beyond?
Falyn> Melanoma Canada has always been a leader in promoting skin cancer prevention. ‘BurnWatch’ is a follow-up campaign to ‘3 Ways to Block the Rays’, a digital campaign Melanoma Canada self-produced during the covid-19 pandemic as Canadians took to the outdoors more and more. For that, we wanted to ensure they did it safely, so we shared three simple behaviours they could adopt while doing their activities to simultaneously mitigate their risk of sun burns. In turn, these three ways carried into ‘BurnWatch’, as we encourage beach goers to wear sunscreen, cover up, and seek shade.
Beyond that, Melanoma Canada will continue to build on ‘BurnWatch’ in 2024 and beyond, bringing our live installation to beaches across Canada in order to continue shining a line on the importance of sun safety at the beach, and beyond that, to prevent skin cancers.
LBB> So, it’s fair to say we’ll be seeing more of the Burn Guards in the future?
Athina & Fernando> Hell yes! If you own a beach, hit us up! (And you may also catch them in the sun safety training video we’ll be air-dropping at beaches.)
