Tanning salon advertising: the health and safety claims to leave out

The short answer for salon owners

Federal law lets the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) act against any advertiser whose ads mislead, and indoor tanning is an industry it has already acted against. Several states go further and name the forbidden claims in their tanning statutes. The practical rule: sell the service, the price, the convenience and the look, and leave out anything about health, safety, vitamin D or government approval.

• Do not say or imply that indoor tanning is safe, harmless, healthy or free from risk.
• Do not promote tanning as a way to get vitamin D.
• Do not claim a base tan protects against sunburn.
• Do not say tanning, your beds or your salon are approved or endorsed by the FDA or any government agency.
• Do not say indoor tanning is safer than the sun because the dose is controlled.
• Do not cite a study unless it actually says what your ad says.

What federal law says

Section 5 of the FTC Act (15 U.S.C. 45) declares unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce unlawful. Section 12 (15 U.S.C. 52) makes it unlawful to disseminate a false advertisement likely to induce the purchase of food, drugs, devices, services or cosmetics. That wording reaches both your tanning sessions and the lotions you sell.

Section 15 (15 U.S.C. 55) defines a false advertisement as one that is misleading in a material respect. It counts not only what the ad says but also the extent to which it fails to reveal material facts, so an ad can mislead by leaving out the risk as well as by stating something untrue.

The FTC's Health Products Compliance Guidance (December 2022) reduces the law to two principles: advertising must be truthful and not misleading, and advertisers must have adequate substantiation for objective claims before the ad runs. Claims about health benefits or safety generally need competent and reliable scientific evidence. The FTC also judges an ad by its net impression, including images and product names, not only its literal words.

The 2010 FTC case against a tanning trade association

On 26 January 2010 the FTC announced a proposed settlement with a national trade association representing tanning facilities and suppliers of tanning equipment. According to the FTC, the complaint alleged that in March 2008 the association launched a campaign portraying indoor tanning as safe and beneficial. It used two national newspaper ads, television and video advertising, two websites, a communications guide and point-of-sale materials supplied to members for use in local markets.

The complaint called these representations false and misleading:

• Tanning, including indoor tanning, does not increase the risk of skin cancer.
• Tanning, including indoor tanning, poses no danger.
• Indoor tanning is approved by the government.
• Indoor tanning is safer than tanning outdoors because the amount of ultraviolet light is monitored and controlled.
• Research shows vitamin D supplements may harm the body's ability to fight disease, and a named study found the risks of too little ultraviolet light outweigh the risk of skin cancer.

The complaint also said the association promoted tanning as a way to make vitamin D without disclosing that people can raise vitamin D with less ultraviolet exposure than it takes to tan, and that ultraviolet radiation can injure the eyes and increases skin cancer risk. The final order, issued 13 May 2010 (Docket C-4290), bars those claims, requires competent and reliable scientific evidence for any safety or health claim, and requires set disclosures in certain ads. It runs until at least 13 May 2030.

The order binds the association, which settled without admitting the allegations, not your salon. The FTC Act it enforced applies to every advertiser, though, and the complaint sets out the FTC's view that these claims are false. The association also had to write to its members asking them to stop using the materials it had supplied, including the 2008 campaign, so check any older supplier or association posters before you put them up.

Claims to take out of your ads

For context, the World Health Organization's cancer agency, IARC, classifies the use of UV-emitting tanning devices as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). That is the scientific backdrop against which any safety or health claim for tanning would have to be substantiated.

Vitamin D claims and the FTC disclosure

The cleanest choice is not to mention vitamin D in tanning advertising at all. The 2010 order shows what the FTC requires of that association's ads while the order runs. Any ad claiming safety or health benefits must carry this notice, clearly and conspicuously and in close proximity to the claim:

NOTICE: Exposure to ultraviolet radiation may increase the likelihood of developing skin cancer and can cause serious eye injury.

Ads saying ultraviolet exposure produces vitamin D must carry a longer notice instead:

NOTICE: You do not need to become tan for your skin to make vitamin D. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation may increase the likelihood of developing skin cancer and can cause serious eye injury.

A disclosure is not a license. The FTC's guidance says that if an effective disclosure is not possible, the claim should be changed so no disclosure is needed, or not made. In Texas, California and Georgia the law forbids the health-benefit claim itself.

State laws that name the forbidden claims

These four states write the rule into their tanning law. Other states may have similar rules, so check your own state on the tanning laws by state page. Texas, California and Louisiana forbid making the claim, not only distributing promotional materials, so treat what staff say at the desk the same way.

See the Texas, California, Louisiana and Georgia pages for each state's other salon rules.

What you can promote

Plenty of honest selling points carry no health claim. Keep every statement factual and something you can prove.

• Package and membership terms: how many sessions, how long they last, visit limits and what happens at renewal.
• Bed levels and what sets them apart, such as stand-up or lay-down and the maximum session length on the unit's label.
• Hours, parking, walk-in availability, clean rooms and trained staff.
• Sunless options. California lets a facility add to its warning sign that spray-on tans and other sunless products are not subject to the same effects as ultraviolet tanning devices. Read the spray tan DHA guide before making any other claim about them.
• Retail lotions, described by what the product is. The false-advertising section names cosmetics as well as services, so do not repeat a supplier's health claim you cannot support.
• Real prices and real end dates for promotions.

Health claims for other services, such as red light, need the same kind of support. The FTC guidance says its principles apply to the marketing of any health-related product, and that customer testimonials are not substantiation.

A quick ad review for your salon

1. Collect everything that promotes the salon: window and counter signs, your website, social posts, flyers, promotional texts and emails, and any poster or script a supplier gave you.
2. Read each one against the table above. Look at the images and product names too, because the FTC judges the net impression.
3. Remove or rewrite anything that says or suggests safe, healthy, vitamin D, base tan protection, government approval or better than the sun.
4. Give staff the same list. Replies to online reviews and what is said at the desk promote the salon too.
5. Check endorsements. The FTC guidance says an advertiser is liable for misleading claims made by a paid endorser, and a paid post must disclose the payment.
6. Keep a folder with each ad, the dates it ran and what supports each factual claim. The 2010 order required the association to keep a similar file for five years after a claim was last used.
7. Before you text promotions, confirm each client opted in. See text message rules for tanning salons.

How TanVision helps

TanVision will not write your ads, but it keeps the promotion itself honest. A sale is scheduled with start and end dates, the ticket shows the regular price struck through, and the price goes back on its own when the sale ends, so an offer does not outlive the ad that announced it. A Discounts given report shows what each promotion cost. On the consent form, the marketing opt-in is a separate box that starts unticked. See retail and lotion inventory, or book a demo.