Key Points
- TikTok and Melanoma Institute Australia have launched a campaign aimed at spreading awareness about melanoma.
- TikTok users are being encouraged to create videos that highlight the dangers of glamourising tanning and sunburns.
- Jen Benfield, an Australian melanoma survivor, has described the campaign as "mission critical".
What Jen Benfield initially thought was a scab on her back turned into a "terrifying" reality that she could almost die.
At 40, Ms Benfield was enjoying her summer holiday when she had a skin check to examine a burn that "just wouldn't heal".
The doctor revealed it was aggressive melanoma, which was cut out.
But four years later Ms Benfield was diagnosed with stage four melanoma that had spread to her kidney.
"I didn't realise that there was no stage five. Stage five was death, so it was a terrifying time and all because of overexposure to sun early in my life," she said.
A long road to recovery awaited her, and it was a rude awakening for her that anyone could be diagnosed with melanoma.
"At that time, my head was just spinning. I didn't think that that could happen to me because I'm a Greek-Australian with olive skin," she said. "I thought that melanoma only happened to fair-skinned people with freckles and red hair."
"But it does happen to olive-skinned people and it happened to me."
Ms Benfield has since beaten melanoma, but not everyone is as lucky as her.
According to Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA), one person every six hours dies from melanoma and one person every 30 minutes is diagnosed.
Melanoma is also the most common cancer among Australians aged between 20 and 39.
That's why Ms Benfield was relieved to see TikTok's new campaign, in collaboration with MIA, aimed at battling the glamourisation of tanning this summer.
TikTok and Melanoma Institute Australia have teamed up to launch a campaign to spread awareness on the dangers surrounding tanning this summer. Credit: TikTok / Melanoma Institute Australia
TikTok users are encouraged to create content on the popular social media platform - used primarily by young people around the world - that debunks the glamourisation of suntans in summer.
MIA CEO Matthew Browne said humour on TikTok is an effective means of targeting Australians in the 20-39 age group with an underlying serious message.
TikTok users have posted videos on the social media platform, using humour to encourage sun-safe behaviour at the beach. Credit: TikTok
Bringing rash shirts into fashion, wearing a hat and debunking the myth that sunburns are trendy are some of the elements that will be highlighted in many TikTok videos throughout the summer.
The social media giant's campaign collaboration came about after MIA and Olympic swimmer Cate Campbell, who survived melanoma, fronted the National Press Club in September, urging more action from social media platforms.
Since then, TikTok pledged to remove all content posted on the platform that encourages tanning and sunburns, including the #sunburnchallenge in which users shared their stark skin-colour changes after saying in the sun.
Ms Benfield said the support from TikTok is "mission critical" for parents who struggle with young children who aren't aware of the dangers surrounding tanning and sunburns.
"Between that age group of 20-39, we think life will go on forever and that we're bulletproof and that we can do just about anything we want. It's just not true," she said.
"Take it from me in saying that too much exposure to the sun and getting melanoma is the hardest journey you could take."
Melanoma Institute Australia's 5 sun-safe rules
- Seek shade
- Use SPF 50+ sunscreen
- Wear a broad-brimmed hat
- Wear sunglasses
- Wear protective clothing
