ANZAC day is one of the most important occasions in Australia; it’s a time to commemorate and reflect on the brave men and women of the Australian and New Zealand military forces and the sacrifices they’ve made while serving the country.

So, when it comes to taking the time to remember and show respect, your remembrance should always be heartfelt and sincere.

Unfortunately, a sunbed company in Australia didn’t quite get this right, attracting controversy due to an ‘absurd’ and ‘outrageous’ tribute to the ANZACs.

It started when Sunbeds Australia shared an Instagram post of a woman tanning inside a sunbed on Tuesday alongside a caption that didn’t quite fit the solemn occasion.

In the photo, a woman can be seen lying face down in a sunbed and only wearing skimpy underwear that leaves little to the imagination.

But as we mentioned above, what sparked the backlash was the company’s caption…

ANZAC Day is a day of remembrance. Credit: Shutterstock

‘Honouring our heroes with a golden glow and a moment of gratitude,’ it said and included a link to the company website, with hashtags ‘Lest we forget,’ ‘ANZAC Day,’ and ‘Tanning’.

The post has since been deleted, but not before sparking a huge reaction both on the company’s social media platform and offline.

Many people shared their opinions (most of which were not positive) on the controversy in the comments.

Someone wrote: ‘Whoever came up with this has spent too long under the UV lights...’

While another agreed and said that ‘there is a time and place’ for everything. ‘This isn’t it,’ they added.

Someone else commented: ‘What a disrespectful and highly offensive caption. I'm disgusted.’

‘Are you for real? This is absurd,’ one replied.

Sunbeds Australia has yet to comment on the matter.

The post was promptly deleted by the sunbed company. Credit: Sunbeds Australia/Instagram

Others were harsher with their comments.

One irate social media user said: ‘How dare you. Making a mockery of our brave servicemen and women who lost their lives and fought in wars.’

‘This is so unbelievably tone-deaf. Take it down & apologise,’ they added.

While it was obvious to some, the company’s outlandish post seems to stem from it trying to make a sale during one of the most sensitive holidays in the country.

Sara Quach, Senior Lecturer from the Department of Marketing at Griffith University, said: ‘It's considered inappropriate as it is at odds with the public sentiment about the solemnity of ANZAC Day.’

The professor went on to say that ANZAC Day is always a day of remembrance. ‘[It] should not be associated with commercial promotion,’ she added.

Professor Quach stated that brands that seek to profit from ANZAC Day will always experience heavy backlash. ‘A very high profile example was Woolworths with their “Fresh in our Memories” campaign in 2015,’ she explained.

Woolworths introduced a campaign and promoted it by placing the company’s logo and the campaign’s slogan across photographs of World War I soldiers. This caused intense outrage from the public, forcing the supermarket to stop the campaign.

The advertising agency that created it was also forced to delete its social media accounts and references to the campaign on its website following public outcry.

Veterans’ Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson also warned that ANZAC was a protected word. If misused, violators could be fined $50,000. Woolworths apologised, acknowledging that the supermarket had ‘well-and-truly overstepped the mark’.

Professor Quach said that brands should instead ‘demonstrate their respect, display genuine sentiment, and be authentic’ if they want to approach this holiday in a sensitive manner.

‘[Don’t] think about it as a sales opportunity,’ she claimed before adding that coming across as opportunistic can hurt sales even more.

‘Marketing messages that are not meaningful to customers and considered insincere will do more to hurt brands and their relationship with customers,’ the professor remarked.

‘Virtue signalling only works when it reflects genuine values, truth, long-term commitment, and the impact that goes beyond business profitability,’ she added.

This comes after reports that an ANZAC Day memorial at a local community was destroyed. According to the locals, the RSL war memorial gardens suffered a ‘deliberate act of vandalism’, leaving the community organisers in shock and outraged. You can read more on this here.

Key Takeaways

• Sunbeds Australia faced backlash for their 'highly offensive' social media post attempting to pay tribute to the ANZACs.
• The post showed a woman tanning inside a sunbed and included the caption 'Honouring our heroes with a golden glow and a moment of gratitude' along with the hashtags 'Lest we forget,' ‘Tanning,’ and 'ANZAC Day'.
• Many people flocked to the comments section to express their outrage and disapproval of the post.
• A marketing expert advised that brands should demonstrate authentic respect and avoid commercial promotion during solemn days of remembrance, such as ANZAC Day.

What do you all think about this story? If you came across the post online, would you have had the same reaction? Share your thoughts in the comments!

 

[Bernice S]

ANZAC day is one of the most important occasions in Australia; it’s a time to commemorate and reflect on the brave men and women of the Australian and New Zealand military forces and the sacrifices they’ve made while serving the country.

So, when it comes to taking the time to remember and show respect, your remembrance should always be heartfelt and sincere.

Unfortunately, a sunbed company in Australia didn’t quite get this right, attracting controversy due to an ‘absurd’ and ‘outrageous’ tribute to the ANZACs.

It started when Sunbeds Australia shared an Instagram post of a woman tanning inside a sunbed on Tuesday alongside a caption that didn’t quite fit the solemn occasion.

In the photo, a woman can be seen lying face down in a sunbed and only wearing skimpy underwear that leaves little to the imagination.

But as we mentioned above, what sparked the backlash was the company’s caption…

View attachment 18445

ANZAC Day is a day of remembrance. Credit: Shutterstock

‘Honouring our heroes with a golden glow and a moment of gratitude,’ it said and included a link to the company website, with hashtags ‘Lest we forget,’ ‘ANZAC Day,’ and ‘Tanning’.

The post has since been deleted, but not before sparking a huge reaction both on the company’s social media platform and offline.

Many people shared their opinions (most of which were not positive) on the controversy in the comments.

Someone wrote: ‘Whoever came up with this has spent too long under the UV lights...’

While another agreed and said that ‘there is a time and place’ for everything. ‘This isn’t it,’ they added.

Someone else commented: ‘What a disrespectful and highly offensive caption. I'm disgusted.’

‘Are you for real? This is absurd,’ one replied.

Sunbeds Australia has yet to comment on the matter.

View attachment 18446

The post was promptly deleted by the sunbed company. Credit: Sunbeds Australia/Instagram

Others were harsher with their comments.

One irate social media user said: ‘How dare you. Making a mockery of our brave servicemen and women who lost their lives and fought in wars.’

‘This is so unbelievably tone-deaf. Take it down & apologise,’ they added.

While it was obvious to some, the company’s outlandish post seems to stem from it trying to make a sale during one of the most sensitive holidays in the country.

Sara Quach, Senior Lecturer from the Department of Marketing at Griffith University, said: ‘It's considered inappropriate as it is at odds with the public sentiment about the solemnity of ANZAC Day.’

The professor went on to say that ANZAC Day is always a day of remembrance. ‘[It] should not be associated with commercial promotion,’ she added.

Professor Quach stated that brands that seek to profit from ANZAC Day will always experience heavy backlash. ‘A very high profile example was Woolworths with their “Fresh in our Memories” campaign in 2015,’ she explained.

Woolworths introduced a campaign and promoted it by placing the company’s logo and the campaign’s slogan across photographs of World War I soldiers. This caused intense outrage from the public, forcing the supermarket to stop the campaign.

The advertising agency that created it was also forced to delete its social media accounts and references to the campaign on its website following public outcry.

Veterans’ Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson also warned that ANZAC was a protected word. If misused, violators could be fined $50,000. Woolworths apologised, acknowledging that the supermarket had ‘well-and-truly overstepped the mark’.

Professor Quach said that brands should instead ‘demonstrate their respect, display genuine sentiment, and be authentic’ if they want to approach this holiday in a sensitive manner.

‘[Don’t] think about it as a sales opportunity,’ she claimed before adding that coming across as opportunistic can hurt sales even more.

‘Marketing messages that are not meaningful to customers and considered insincere will do more to hurt brands and their relationship with customers,’ the professor remarked.

‘Virtue signalling only works when it reflects genuine values, truth, long-term commitment, and the impact that goes beyond business profitability,’ she added.

This comes after reports that an ANZAC Day memorial at a local community was destroyed. According to the locals, the RSL war memorial gardens suffered a ‘deliberate act of vandalism’, leaving the community organisers in shock and outraged. You can read more on this here.

Key Takeaways

• Sunbeds Australia faced backlash for their 'highly offensive' social media post attempting to pay tribute to the ANZACs.
• The post showed a woman tanning inside a sunbed and included the caption 'Honouring our heroes with a golden glow and a moment of gratitude' along with the hashtags 'Lest we forget,' ‘Tanning,’ and 'ANZAC Day'.
• Many people flocked to the comments section to express their outrage and disapproval of the post.
• A marketing expert advised that brands should demonstrate authentic respect and avoid commercial promotion during solemn days of remembrance, such as ANZAC Day.

What do you all think about this story? If you came across the post online, would you have had the same reaction? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The subbed company logo should have read " Sunbeds are dangerous and may cause skin cancer Lest we forget".

 

[Aussie all the Way]

Typical of this generation, they have NO IDEA about respect, and unfortunately these are the disrespectful idiots that our Service Men fought for so they could have a better life. What a waste of life, for these dickheads.

 

[Rosalie30]

I thought sunbeds had been banned in Australia.

 

[Jest]

ANZAC day is one of the most important occasions in Australia; it’s a time to commemorate and reflect on the brave men and women of the Australian and New Zealand military forces and the sacrifices they’ve made while serving the country.

So, when it comes to taking the time to remember and show respect, your remembrance should always be heartfelt and sincere.

Unfortunately, a sunbed company in Australia didn’t quite get this right, attracting controversy due to an ‘absurd’ and ‘outrageous’ tribute to the ANZACs.

It started when Sunbeds Australia shared an Instagram post of a woman tanning inside a sunbed on Tuesday alongside a caption that didn’t quite fit the solemn occasion.

In the photo, a woman can be seen lying face down in a sunbed and only wearing skimpy underwear that leaves little to the imagination.

But as we mentioned above, what sparked the backlash was the company’s caption…

View attachment 18445

ANZAC Day is a day of remembrance. Credit: Shutterstock

‘Honouring our heroes with a golden glow and a moment of gratitude,’ it said and included a link to the company website, with hashtags ‘Lest we forget,’ ‘ANZAC Day,’ and ‘Tanning’.

The post has since been deleted, but not before sparking a huge reaction both on the company’s social media platform and offline.

Many people shared their opinions (most of which were not positive) on the controversy in the comments.

Someone wrote: ‘Whoever came up with this has spent too long under the UV lights...’

While another agreed and said that ‘there is a time and place’ for everything. ‘This isn’t it,’ they added.

Someone else commented: ‘What a disrespectful and highly offensive caption. I'm disgusted.’

‘Are you for real? This is absurd,’ one replied.

Sunbeds Australia has yet to comment on the matter.

View attachment 18446

The post was promptly deleted by the sunbed company. Credit: Sunbeds Australia/Instagram

Others were harsher with their comments.

One irate social media user said: ‘How dare you. Making a mockery of our brave servicemen and women who lost their lives and fought in wars.’

‘This is so unbelievably tone-deaf. Take it down & apologise,’ they added.

While it was obvious to some, the company’s outlandish post seems to stem from it trying to make a sale during one of the most sensitive holidays in the country.

Sara Quach, Senior Lecturer from the Department of Marketing at Griffith University, said: ‘It's considered inappropriate as it is at odds with the public sentiment about the solemnity of ANZAC Day.’

The professor went on to say that ANZAC Day is always a day of remembrance. ‘[It] should not be associated with commercial promotion,’ she added.

Professor Quach stated that brands that seek to profit from ANZAC Day will always experience heavy backlash. ‘A very high profile example was Woolworths with their “Fresh in our Memories” campaign in 2015,’ she explained.

Woolworths introduced a campaign and promoted it by placing the company’s logo and the campaign’s slogan across photographs of World War I soldiers. This caused intense outrage from the public, forcing the supermarket to stop the campaign.

The advertising agency that created it was also forced to delete its social media accounts and references to the campaign on its website following public outcry.

Veterans’ Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson also warned that ANZAC was a protected word. If misused, violators could be fined $50,000. Woolworths apologised, acknowledging that the supermarket had ‘well-and-truly overstepped the mark’.

Professor Quach said that brands should instead ‘demonstrate their respect, display genuine sentiment, and be authentic’ if they want to approach this holiday in a sensitive manner.

‘[Don’t] think about it as a sales opportunity,’ she claimed before adding that coming across as opportunistic can hurt sales even more.

‘Marketing messages that are not meaningful to customers and considered insincere will do more to hurt brands and their relationship with customers,’ the professor remarked.

‘Virtue signalling only works when it reflects genuine values, truth, long-term commitment, and the impact that goes beyond business profitability,’ she added.

This comes after reports that an ANZAC Day memorial at a local community was destroyed. According to the locals, the RSL war memorial gardens suffered a ‘deliberate act of vandalism’, leaving the community organisers in shock and outraged. You can read more on this here.

Key Takeaways

• Sunbeds Australia faced backlash for their 'highly offensive' social media post attempting to pay tribute to the ANZACs.
• The post showed a woman tanning inside a sunbed and included the caption 'Honouring our heroes with a golden glow and a moment of gratitude' along with the hashtags 'Lest we forget,' ‘Tanning,’ and 'ANZAC Day'.
• Many people flocked to the comments section to express their outrage and disapproval of the post.
• A marketing expert advised that brands should demonstrate authentic respect and avoid commercial promotion during solemn days of remembrance, such as ANZAC Day.

What do you all think about this story? If you came across the post online, would you have had the same reaction? Share your thoughts in the comments!

anyone who gets under a sunbed has rocks in their head. skin cancers. well go for it if it is your choice. nuts,

 

[Rob44]

ANZAC day is one of the most important occasions in Australia; it’s a time to commemorate and reflect on the brave men and women of the Australian and New Zealand military forces and the sacrifices they’ve made while serving the country.

So, when it comes to taking the time to remember and show respect, your remembrance should always be heartfelt and sincere.

Unfortunately, a sunbed company in Australia didn’t quite get this right, attracting controversy due to an ‘absurd’ and ‘outrageous’ tribute to the ANZACs.

It started when Sunbeds Australia shared an Instagram post of a woman tanning inside a sunbed on Tuesday alongside a caption that didn’t quite fit the solemn occasion.

In the photo, a woman can be seen lying face down in a sunbed and only wearing skimpy underwear that leaves little to the imagination.

But as we mentioned above, what sparked the backlash was the company’s caption…

View attachment 18445

ANZAC Day is a day of remembrance. Credit: Shutterstock

‘Honouring our heroes with a golden glow and a moment of gratitude,’ it said and included a link to the company website, with hashtags ‘Lest we forget,’ ‘ANZAC Day,’ and ‘Tanning’.

The post has since been deleted, but not before sparking a huge reaction both on the company’s social media platform and offline.

Many people shared their opinions (most of which were not positive) on the controversy in the comments.

Someone wrote: ‘Whoever came up with this has spent too long under the UV lights...’

While another agreed and said that ‘there is a time and place’ for everything. ‘This isn’t it,’ they added.

Someone else commented: ‘What a disrespectful and highly offensive caption. I'm disgusted.’

‘Are you for real? This is absurd,’ one replied.

Sunbeds Australia has yet to comment on the matter.

View attachment 18446

The post was promptly deleted by the sunbed company. Credit: Sunbeds Australia/Instagram

Others were harsher with their comments.

One irate social media user said: ‘How dare you. Making a mockery of our brave servicemen and women who lost their lives and fought in wars.’

‘This is so unbelievably tone-deaf. Take it down & apologise,’ they added.

While it was obvious to some, the company’s outlandish post seems to stem from it trying to make a sale during one of the most sensitive holidays in the country.

Sara Quach, Senior Lecturer from the Department of Marketing at Griffith University, said: ‘It's considered inappropriate as it is at odds with the public sentiment about the solemnity of ANZAC Day.’

The professor went on to say that ANZAC Day is always a day of remembrance. ‘[It] should not be associated with commercial promotion,’ she added.

Professor Quach stated that brands that seek to profit from ANZAC Day will always experience heavy backlash. ‘A very high profile example was Woolworths with their “Fresh in our Memories” campaign in 2015,’ she explained.

Woolworths introduced a campaign and promoted it by placing the company’s logo and the campaign’s slogan across photographs of World War I soldiers. This caused intense outrage from the public, forcing the supermarket to stop the campaign.

The advertising agency that created it was also forced to delete its social media accounts and references to the campaign on its website following public outcry.

Veterans’ Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson also warned that ANZAC was a protected word. If misused, violators could be fined $50,000. Woolworths apologised, acknowledging that the supermarket had ‘well-and-truly overstepped the mark’.

Professor Quach said that brands should instead ‘demonstrate their respect, display genuine sentiment, and be authentic’ if they want to approach this holiday in a sensitive manner.

‘[Don’t] think about it as a sales opportunity,’ she claimed before adding that coming across as opportunistic can hurt sales even more.

‘Marketing messages that are not meaningful to customers and considered insincere will do more to hurt brands and their relationship with customers,’ the professor remarked.

‘Virtue signalling only works when it reflects genuine values, truth, long-term commitment, and the impact that goes beyond business profitability,’ she added.

This comes after reports that an ANZAC Day memorial at a local community was destroyed. According to the locals, the RSL war memorial gardens suffered a ‘deliberate act of vandalism’, leaving the community organisers in shock and outraged. You can read more on this here.

Key Takeaways

• Sunbeds Australia faced backlash for their 'highly offensive' social media post attempting to pay tribute to the ANZACs.
• The post showed a woman tanning inside a sunbed and included the caption 'Honouring our heroes with a golden glow and a moment of gratitude' along with the hashtags 'Lest we forget,' ‘Tanning,’ and 'ANZAC Day'.
• Many people flocked to the comments section to express their outrage and disapproval of the post.
• A marketing expert advised that brands should demonstrate authentic respect and avoid commercial promotion during solemn days of remembrance, such as ANZAC Day.

What do you all think about this story? If you came across the post online, would you have had the same reaction? Share your thoughts in the comments!

"ANZAC day is one of the most important occasions in Australia; it’s a time to commemorate and reflect on the brave men and women of the Australian and New Zealand military forces and the sacrifices they’ve made while serving the country."


Sorry, folks. I don't reflect on the brave men and women fighting for Australia. I am old enough and have seen enough to reflect on November 11th that the young men and women of all nations have for many years been driven like cattle to the slaughterhouse by a bunch of psychopaths, who have had no legitimate right to call themselves "leaders", whilst they sit back in comfort sipping pleasant drinks and pontificating over maps as to how to kill off yet another generation. Whether the soldiers, the young men, or women, be they Japanese, Australian, New Zealand, Indian, Chinese, British, German, Russian, Italian or of whatever tribe they were born into, were brave or not, all were human beings and all had families and we all had and have common interests more important than tribalism.

And all the reflection about their bravery still hasn't stopped this stupidity from happening repeatedly.

 

[Glo72]

Very disrespectful.

 

[Nana Zorak]

It is probably our fault for not instilling respect in our kids by giving in to their whinging over what they should have when they were young. We have managed to instil only me, me, me. in them. Well some of them anyway, we had it a lot harder in our youth with having to work out the way the world worked by ourselves with both parents having to go to work & care for our kids as well when all we wanted to do was just sit & recover from the day. It seems to me that our grandchildren, well the ones in their 20s are going the opposite of their parents & becoming more caring in the face of adversity. I know my granddaughter is she is not on a good wage as a personal age carer but she refuses to leave the home she works at as she loves all the residents & no one else speaks English on some of her shifts so it is difficult for the residents to get their points across. You can't expect respect to come from the ones who have been shown none.

 

[Jelp26]

ANZAC day is one of the most important occasions in Australia; it’s a time to commemorate and reflect on the brave men and women of the Australian and New Zealand military forces and the sacrifices they’ve made while serving the country.

So, when it comes to taking the time to remember and show respect, your remembrance should always be heartfelt and sincere.

Unfortunately, a sunbed company in Australia didn’t quite get this right, attracting controversy due to an ‘absurd’ and ‘outrageous’ tribute to the ANZACs.

It started when Sunbeds Australia shared an Instagram post of a woman tanning inside a sunbed on Tuesday alongside a caption that didn’t quite fit the solemn occasion.

In the photo, a woman can be seen lying face down in a sunbed and only wearing skimpy underwear that leaves little to the imagination.

But as we mentioned above, what sparked the backlash was the company’s caption…

View attachment 18445

ANZAC Day is a day of remembrance. Credit: Shutterstock

‘Honouring our heroes with a golden glow and a moment of gratitude,’ it said and included a link to the company website, with hashtags ‘Lest we forget,’ ‘ANZAC Day,’ and ‘Tanning’.

The post has since been deleted, but not before sparking a huge reaction both on the company’s social media platform and offline.

Many people shared their opinions (most of which were not positive) on the controversy in the comments.

Someone wrote: ‘Whoever came up with this has spent too long under the UV lights...’

While another agreed and said that ‘there is a time and place’ for everything. ‘This isn’t it,’ they added.

Someone else commented: ‘What a disrespectful and highly offensive caption. I'm disgusted.’

‘Are you for real? This is absurd,’ one replied.

Sunbeds Australia has yet to comment on the matter.

View attachment 18446

The post was promptly deleted by the sunbed company. Credit: Sunbeds Australia/Instagram

Others were harsher with their comments.

One irate social media user said: ‘How dare you. Making a mockery of our brave servicemen and women who lost their lives and fought in wars.’

‘This is so unbelievably tone-deaf. Take it down & apologise,’ they added.

While it was obvious to some, the company’s outlandish post seems to stem from it trying to make a sale during one of the most sensitive holidays in the country.

Sara Quach, Senior Lecturer from the Department of Marketing at Griffith University, said: ‘It's considered inappropriate as it is at odds with the public sentiment about the solemnity of ANZAC Day.’

The professor went on to say that ANZAC Day is always a day of remembrance. ‘[It] should not be associated with commercial promotion,’ she added.

Professor Quach stated that brands that seek to profit from ANZAC Day will always experience heavy backlash. ‘A very high profile example was Woolworths with their “Fresh in our Memories” campaign in 2015,’ she explained.

Woolworths introduced a campaign and promoted it by placing the company’s logo and the campaign’s slogan across photographs of World War I soldiers. This caused intense outrage from the public, forcing the supermarket to stop the campaign.

The advertising agency that created it was also forced to delete its social media accounts and references to the campaign on its website following public outcry.

Veterans’ Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson also warned that ANZAC was a protected word. If misused, violators could be fined $50,000. Woolworths apologised, acknowledging that the supermarket had ‘well-and-truly overstepped the mark’.

Professor Quach said that brands should instead ‘demonstrate their respect, display genuine sentiment, and be authentic’ if they want to approach this holiday in a sensitive manner.

‘[Don’t] think about it as a sales opportunity,’ she claimed before adding that coming across as opportunistic can hurt sales even more.

‘Marketing messages that are not meaningful to customers and considered insincere will do more to hurt brands and their relationship with customers,’ the professor remarked.

‘Virtue signalling only works when it reflects genuine values, truth, long-term commitment, and the impact that goes beyond business profitability,’ she added.

This comes after reports that an ANZAC Day memorial at a local community was destroyed. According to the locals, the RSL war memorial gardens suffered a ‘deliberate act of vandalism’, leaving the community organisers in shock and outraged. You can read more on this here.

Key Takeaways

• Sunbeds Australia faced backlash for their 'highly offensive' social media post attempting to pay tribute to the ANZACs.
• The post showed a woman tanning inside a sunbed and included the caption 'Honouring our heroes with a golden glow and a moment of gratitude' along with the hashtags 'Lest we forget,' ‘Tanning,’ and 'ANZAC Day'.
• Many people flocked to the comments section to express their outrage and disapproval of the post.
• A marketing expert advised that brands should demonstrate authentic respect and avoid commercial promotion during solemn days of remembrance, such as ANZAC Day.

What do you all think about this story? If you came across the post online, would you have had the same reaction? Share your thoughts in the comments!

"ANZAC day is one of the most important occasions in Australia; it’s a time to commemorate and reflect on the brave men and women of the Australian and New Zealand military forces and the sacrifices they’ve made while serving the country."


Sorry, folks. I don't reflect on the brave men and women fighting for Australia. I am old enough and have seen enough to reflect on November 11th that the young men and women of all nations have for many years been driven like cattle to the slaughterhouse by a bunch of psychopaths, who have had no legitimate right to call themselves "leaders", whilst they sit back in comfort sipping pleasant drinks and pontificating over maps as to how to kill off yet another generation. Whether the soldiers, the young men, or women, be they Japanese, Australian, New Zealand, Indian, Chinese, British, German, Russian, Italian or of whatever tribe they were born into, all were human beings and all were variably brave and all had families.

And all the reflection about their bravery still hasn't stopped this stupidity from happening repeatedly.

This is disgusting and desecrates the memories of those who fought in the wars and those who came back including my father. They fought so that you and others could behave this way. All of you should be ashamed of yourselves.

 

[Ronloby]

Should have been Hung, Drawn and Quartered. This special day should have nothing to do with anything except Remembering those brave men and women who gave their all for this country.

 

[Nichola]

I thought sunbeds had been banned in Australia.

So did I. Maybe it's just tanning salons.

 

[Nichola]

Using the ANZAC concept as an advertising tool is reprehensible.

 

[SGH]

I thought it was against the law to use any ANZAC quotes memos moments in advertising

 

[ElleJay]

I thought sunbeds had been banned in Australia.

Yes, I thought so too!

 

[Tony@51]

ANZAC day is one of the most important occasions in Australia; it’s a time to commemorate and reflect on the brave men and women of the Australian and New Zealand military forces and the sacrifices they’ve made while serving the country.

So, when it comes to taking the time to remember and show respect, your remembrance should always be heartfelt and sincere.

Unfortunately, a sunbed company in Australia didn’t quite get this right, attracting controversy due to an ‘absurd’ and ‘outrageous’ tribute to the ANZACs.

It started when Sunbeds Australia shared an Instagram post of a woman tanning inside a sunbed on Tuesday alongside a caption that didn’t quite fit the solemn occasion.

In the photo, a woman can be seen lying face down in a sunbed and only wearing skimpy underwear that leaves little to the imagination.

But as we mentioned above, what sparked the backlash was the company’s caption…

View attachment 18445

ANZAC Day is a day of remembrance. Credit: Shutterstock

‘Honouring our heroes with a golden glow and a moment of gratitude,’ it said and included a link to the company website, with hashtags ‘Lest we forget,’ ‘ANZAC Day,’ and ‘Tanning’.

The post has since been deleted, but not before sparking a huge reaction both on the company’s social media platform and offline.

Many people shared their opinions (most of which were not positive) on the controversy in the comments.

Someone wrote: ‘Whoever came up with this has spent too long under the UV lights...’

While another agreed and said that ‘there is a time and place’ for everything. ‘This isn’t it,’ they added.

Someone else commented: ‘What a disrespectful and highly offensive caption. I'm disgusted.’

‘Are you for real? This is absurd,’ one replied.

Sunbeds Australia has yet to comment on the matter.

View attachment 18446

The post was promptly deleted by the sunbed company. Credit: Sunbeds Australia/Instagram

Others were harsher with their comments.

One irate social media user said: ‘How dare you. Making a mockery of our brave servicemen and women who lost their lives and fought in wars.’

‘This is so unbelievably tone-deaf. Take it down & apologise,’ they added.

While it was obvious to some, the company’s outlandish post seems to stem from it trying to make a sale during one of the most sensitive holidays in the country.

Sara Quach, Senior Lecturer from the Department of Marketing at Griffith University, said: ‘It's considered inappropriate as it is at odds with the public sentiment about the solemnity of ANZAC Day.’

The professor went on to say that ANZAC Day is always a day of remembrance. ‘[It] should not be associated with commercial promotion,’ she added.

Professor Quach stated that brands that seek to profit from ANZAC Day will always experience heavy backlash. ‘A very high profile example was Woolworths with their “Fresh in our Memories” campaign in 2015,’ she explained.

Woolworths introduced a campaign and promoted it by placing the company’s logo and the campaign’s slogan across photographs of World War I soldiers. This caused intense outrage from the public, forcing the supermarket to stop the campaign.

The advertising agency that created it was also forced to delete its social media accounts and references to the campaign on its website following public outcry.

Veterans’ Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson also warned that ANZAC was a protected word. If misused, violators could be fined $50,000. Woolworths apologised, acknowledging that the supermarket had ‘well-and-truly overstepped the mark’.

Professor Quach said that brands should instead ‘demonstrate their respect, display genuine sentiment, and be authentic’ if they want to approach this holiday in a sensitive manner.

‘[Don’t] think about it as a sales opportunity,’ she claimed before adding that coming across as opportunistic can hurt sales even more.

‘Marketing messages that are not meaningful to customers and considered insincere will do more to hurt brands and their relationship with customers,’ the professor remarked.

‘Virtue signalling only works when it reflects genuine values, truth, long-term commitment, and the impact that goes beyond business profitability,’ she added.

This comes after reports that an ANZAC Day memorial at a local community was destroyed. According to the locals, the RSL war memorial gardens suffered a ‘deliberate act of vandalism’, leaving the community organisers in shock and outraged. You can read more on this here.

Key Takeaways

• Sunbeds Australia faced backlash for their 'highly offensive' social media post attempting to pay tribute to the ANZACs.
• The post showed a woman tanning inside a sunbed and included the caption 'Honouring our heroes with a golden glow and a moment of gratitude' along with the hashtags 'Lest we forget,' ‘Tanning,’ and 'ANZAC Day'.
• Many people flocked to the comments section to express their outrage and disapproval of the post.
• A marketing expert advised that brands should demonstrate authentic respect and avoid commercial promotion during solemn days of remembrance, such as ANZAC Day.

What do you all think about this story? If you came across the post online, would you have had the same reaction? Share your thoughts in the comments!

I was under the impression that sunbeds were banned because of the high rates of skin cancers of users.