Sunbed ads mislead on health benefits, raising economic and public-health costs

Public health warnings are colliding with commercial hype as tanning firms’ misinformation — amplified by social-media influencers and adverts claiming unwarranted “wellness” benefits — distorts consumer choice and risks costly negative externalities. The Advertising Standards Authority has banned adverts that downplay risks of UV exposure or suggest sunbeds boost wellbeing, yet many young people still see misleading claims that skew perceived costs and benefits. This misallocation of resources — where consumers under-estimate cancer risk and over-consume harmful services — imposes external costs on the NHS via treatment spending that doesn’t reflect true social costs, illustrating classic market failure from imperfect information.

Sunbed ads targeted at young people spread harmful misinformation - BBC News

1. Identify and explain the market failures in the sunbed/tanning industry. Use evidence from the article.

2. Using an MSC-MSB diagram, discuss how these market failures reduce social welfare.

3. Discuss the potential benefits of increasing regulation beyond those already in place in the sunbed industry.