Hill & Knowlton Uses Environmentalists to Peddle Coppertone

This article was first published as "Hill & Knowlton Uses Environmentalists to Peddle Coppertone™", PR Watch, volume 1, number 3, Third Quarter 1994. The original article was authored by John Stauber and is used here with permission. As with all SourceWatch articles, feel free to edit and revise.

The thinning ozone layer leaves us exposed to increasing Ultra Violet (UV) radiation, increasing skin cancer deaths, cataracts and damaged immune systems. Bad news? Not if you are the drug transnational Schering-Plough, or its PR firm, Hill & Knowlton.

Thinning atmospheric ozone is an opportunity to sell more sunscreen, and no one peddles more than Schering-Plough the drug transnational best know for Coppertone™. Now Schering-Plough, through Hill & Knowlton PR, has established "Partners for Sun Protection Awareness," a multi-year PR campaign advocating that people "liberally apply a sunscreen ... to all exposed parts of the body before going outdoors."

Hill & Knowlton's Nina Oligino has persuaded some national environmental groups to add their names to the "Partner" letterhead, including Friends of the Earth, National Resources Defense Council, and the Sierra Club. Apparently these groups are little more than a dash of green window-dressing for the campaign. A representative of one of the groups, who asked not to be named, said that he was ignorant of the Schering-Plough funding and its hidden agenda to sell sun lotion.

Oligino told PR Watch that the campaign "is not brand specific" to sell Schering-Plough products, but in fact the H&K media kit promotes "The Coppertone Guide to Sun Safety and the UV Index." The Partners media kit is also filled with what H&K calls "factoids" about skin cancer.

The best prevention for sun-caused skin cancer is, of course, to cover up completely, but saying so would be market suicide for the world's largest maker of suntan lotion and purveyor of the sexy "Coppertone tan."

The campaign's clever video news release shows hundreds of scantily-clad sun worshippers still over-exposing themselves to UV rays; of course the beautiful people on the beach are seen slathering themselves with sun oil. The video new release does not mention Schering Plough, the funder of the PR campaign.

Other SourceWatch resources

 * Hill and Knowlton