From Smart Tan

[Tan Game]

This may be old news but...

Friends --

Smart Tan received a report today that ABC News 20/20 program may be conducting a hidden-camera sting on indoor tanning facilities -- most likely attempting to get salons to 1) break regulations, probably regarding teenage tanning protocol or exposure times; or 2) Make therapeutic claims about indoor tanning.

According to the Indoor Tanning Association, "We received a report yesterday from a Salon chain in Arizona that a reporter from 20/20 had been in his store filming with a hidden camera. The operator became suspicious and confronted the reporter and she denied it. However, he had her name (because she signed up for a session) and when he Googled her, investigative reporter for 20/20 appeared."

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Hidden camera reports are usually done with a bag or purse placed carefully on your counter, aimed at the operator. The hidden camera reporter will ask repetitive questions -- sometimes badgering an operator into letting her/his guard down to say something that your salon might not usually say. That's what you need to be prepared for.

ALSO - You have the right to ASK the patron if he/she is a reporter. What is described above is a major breach of journalistic protocol -- when a reporter is identified he/she MUST disclose that he/she is working on a story. He/she CANNOT deny that she/he is a reporter.

We'll follow up on this. In the meantime, make sure your staff is doing the right thing in your salon -- following your exposure criteria and NOT making therapeutic claims about what vitamin D does. In the salon, you may merely say that UVB makes vitamin D naturally, and that tanners have higher vitamin D levels as compared to non-tanners.

Thank you,

Joe Levy, vice president
International Smart Tan Network