Somewhat surprisingly, Norway is world leading when it comes to melanoma (type of skin cancer) - and almost 90% of the cases are connected to UV radiation. Due to the amount of cold and dark winter months, Norwegians tend to rush out into the sun as soon as it appears – and we stay in the sun until it disappears again. Because the sun is “weaker” than in warmer countries, we don’t think to take the proper sun protection precautions. To remind Norwegian women about the importance of protecting themselves in the sun, KK (Norway’s biggest women’s magazine) teamed up with Norwegian Cancer Society to create a special summer edition.

To remind Norwegian women about the importance of protecting their skin, we needed to reach them when they needed the reminder the most - in the sun. So we decided to use something most women take with them to the park and the beach. Norway's biggest women's magazine teamed up with Norwegian Cancer Society, and together they created a special summer edition: The Cancer Cover – a magazine where the cover model develops skin cancer when it lies unprotected in the sun.

We found that the most effective way to reach people in the sun, was to utilize something they already brought with them into the sun. With KK being the biggest women’s magazine in Norway, we knew we had a creative platform that would reach our audience. We found a special UV-sensitive ink, and worked with the magazine to develop a cover where the cover model seemingly develops skin cancer when left unprotected in the sun. Finding a cover model with typical Scandinavian skin, we worked with the model, photographer and edition editor to make the layout and mole as realistic as possible. The result was an ad that didn’t just tell people about the risks of skin cancer, but worked as literal proof of the dangers of UV-radiation when lying unprotected in the sun.

Norway’s biggest selling women’s magazine replaced their July edition with a special sun edition. By printing the cover with a special UV-sensitive ink, the cover model develops skin cancer when left unprotected in the sun. As soon as the sun hits the mole on the model's arm, it starts to change shape - turning into malignant melanoma. We masked the message as an article headline, reading «Why it’s important to protect yourself in the sun”- and an arrow appeared as an direct link between the message and the mole. Inside the magazine, the readers were immediately exposed to an ad giving more information about melanoma and how to prevent it. We also directed them to a sun protection website. Throughout the magazine, sun protection and melanoma were the recurring theme in everything from editorials, interviews and helpful fashion features. A promotional film was also published on KK's social channels.

The Cancer Cover reached headlines on everything from Norway’s number one news channel to the most influencial fashion sites. By comparing the numbers from last year, the visits to the Cancer Society sun protection website saw a 231% increase. With very limited media budget, we reached over 1.000.000 Norwegians. The cover became the most talked about edition in KK’s history. And most importantly, the number of mole checks across the country went up 49% from the same month last year.