Last week, consumer advocacy group Choice dropped a broad-spectrum bombshell on sun-safe Aussies by publishing findings from independent testing, alleging that several popular Australian sunscreen brands didn’t meet their advertised SPF rating.
Given that Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, the claims were alarming - and public concern was high. While the TGA has launched a (very important) investigation into Choice’s claims, the digital backlash has offered an eye-opening study in crisis communications in the social media age.
Image: Unsplash |
Arturo Rivera
The differing responses from two of the brands tells us a lot about the state of modern brand strategy, the role of consumer connection, and how social media has changed the way public trust is earned. So, let’s meet our key players…
The Cancer Council - a trusted, institutional Australian brand rooted in public health advocacy and an evidence-based approach to sun safety. Choice tested four of their products, with three returning an SPF rating below the advertised 50+.
Ultra Violette - a modern, founder-led brand that sits within the beauty sphere, built on community, transparency, and strong social presence. Their cult favourite product, Lean Screen, was ranked as Adore Beauty’s top telling sunscreen, but returned an SPF rating of just 4.
The Cancer Council, with long-standing credibility and minimal digital presence, opted for a classic “freeze” response: a measured, non-committal statement acknowledging the findings and promising further investigation. In PR land, this is textbook. It buys time, avoids headlines, and leans on legacy trust to carry the brand through the storm.
Ultra Violette, on the other hand, went into full on “fight” mode. Within hours, co-founder Ava Chandler-Matthews took to Instagram with a direct-to-camera video (with 228k views at the time of writing) defending the brand’s SPF claims and questioning Choice’s testing methodology. It was raw, passionate - and, depending on who you ask, reckless.
The contrast in these approaches isn’t just about tone; it speaks to each brand’s DNA. Cancer Council is faceless, institutional, and known more for its logo than any individual spokesperson. Ultra Violette is community-driven, young, and heavily invested in its online presence. Its audience know the names of the founders, trusts them, and expects them to show up.
We asked a beauty & skincare creator, who also has background in dermal science (we love multi-talented women in STEM), about the whole debacle, and she shared this with us:
I think The Cancer Council took the safe route because they can. People have built a connection and trust within Ava and Bec, if they’d sat back and said something generic, people would have lost their shit. It would have been off-brand for [Ava] to say nothing.
But the emotional connection that has been instrumental to their success is a double-edged sword. While founder-led storytelling builds brand loyalty, it also raises the stakes in a crisis. When your customer’s trust hinges on honesty and relatability, generic PR lines won’t cut it, and silence can look an awful lot like guilt.
And as misinformation around SPF continues to circulate on platforms like TikTok, thanks in part to “low-tox” influencers, the role of brand accountability and education has never been more important.
It’s also worth noting that Ultra Violette’s response, while seemingly reactive, took advantage of the brand’s loyal digital community to share their message and control a spiralling narrative. Beauty influencers, bloggers, and TikTok creators echoed the brand’s rebuttal, demonstrating the power of building a strong (and fiercely defensive) community long before a crisis hits. PR isn’t just about damage control after the fact, it’s about building a brand that people want to believe in.
So, what can brands learn from this sun-soaked saga?
How you communicate matters just as much as what you’re saying - and there’s real power in having a strong social presence and a direct line to your audience. It’s easy to sail through when the sun’s shining, but in the age of being chronically online, if you don’t slip, slop, & slap a strong crisis strategy together, you risk getting seriously burnt!
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