A bold new sun care brand is set to launch with a tongue-in-cheek name and marketing campaign aimed at getting more men to use sun protection.
DiC, which stands for Don’t ignore Cancer, was co-founded by Roderick Williams-Young after his own experience with skin cancer and spotting a gap in the market for male-targeted sunscreen.
The brand is planning irreverent promotion for the range to capture the attention of this hard-to-reach demographic, including humorous slogans such as ‘Be a clever DiC’, ‘Don’t be a DiC.’, and ‘Sun’s out, guns out, get your DiC out”.
According to Cancer Research UK, 58% of skin cancer deaths are in men. They are also 69% more likely to die from the disease than women.
Speaking at the biennial Sun Protection Conference, held on 24 and 25 June at The Royal College of Physicians in London, UK, Williams-Young said: “While it is true we have not reinvented the formula, what we do feel we are reinventing is the message.”
“Men do not want to be lectured. They do not respond to fear-based adverts, but they do respond to humour, to boldness and irreverence.”
The brand, which is set to launch in early 2026 and has black and yellow packaging to appeal to men, is looking beyond the typical sunscreen retailers such as high street stores and supermarkets, where there is a fight for shelf space.
Instead, DiC is aiming to be stocked at locations such as DIY stores, pubs, sports stores and barber shops to better reach its target audience.
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