La Roche-Posay launches sun safety campaign

NEW YORK La Roche-Posay, the skin care company that brought the Anthelios sunscreen franchise to the United States, has launched a new public health awareness and educational campaign dubbed SOS -- Save Our Skin.

The campaign is designed to not only inform Americans about the dangers of UV and the importance of sun safety, but to also incite true behavioral change, such as including sun protection in their daily routines and visiting their dermatologists for regular skin checks.

The campaign will use all major media components to reach as many people as possible via in-store events, offline initiatives with dermatologists, pharmacists, journalists and a mini site (located at www.sossaveourskin.com) to raise awareness regarding the dangers of UV exposure and the importance of UV protection.

The mini site will serve as the hub of the entire public awareness campaign where users can access informative content that will allow them to learn from each other and experts to discover more about UV protection (including the importance of regular skin checks and how to perform self checks) and help influence others in establishing their own sun safe behavior.

In addition, La Roche-Posay will make a donation every time someone joins the SOS cause as well as when anyone purchases an orange SOS ribbon in support of the cause. The proceeds with go to organizations with synergistic missions, like the Women's Dermatologic Society and The Skin Cancer Foundation.

As part of the initiative and to mark the start of Melanoma Month in May, La Roche-Posay, which is a L'Oreal brand, is hosting a three-day corporate launch event at L'Oreal USA headquarters in New York City. During this time, L'Oreal USA employees are encouraged to attend educational forums and participate in free skin cancer screenings with more than 50 dermatologists that will be on hand.

La Roche-Posay products can be purchased at select physicians' offices, CVS/pharmacy and Duane Reade locations.