Sunday, March 1, 2009

Slip, Slop, Slap


Bob and I went north to the lovely Balmoral Beach on saturday. Our plan was to spend a few hours on the beach to soak up some sun and go for a swim - not a bad itinerary for a February day.

As summer started, I heard a lot of radio ads for, "Slip, Slop, Slap." Without any further information, I came to the conclusion that "Slip, Slop, Slap," must be a slogan for some dodgy brothel. However, one day at the beach, I head a little girl yell out to her brother,"DON'T FORGET TO SLIP, SLOP, SLAP!" And I thought, "That's just not right."

Turns out "Slip, Slop, Slap" is a slogan for the Cancer Council of Australia. "Slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat." That makes more sense.

Australia has a very aggressive skin cancer awareness campaign. Which makes sense for a country with the world's highest incidence of skin cancer. 

So while Bob and I were at the beach we were careful to protect our skin. Due to a rather grotesque commercial by Al Bino that is aired rather frequently, I can't seem to apply sunscreen without thinking of a cheese-head version of a mole singing, "It's a beautiful day for cancer." No words can accurately describe it. Be happy the commercial isn't playing in the States, it's gross, but effective.


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