{"id":23752,"date":"2021-09-08T08:18:05","date_gmt":"2021-09-08T12:18:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smarttan.com\/news\/?p=23752"},"modified":"2021-09-08T08:29:23","modified_gmt":"2021-09-08T12:29:23","slug":"smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart Tan Turns 25: The story behind the movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Joseph Levy<\/em><\/p>\n

This month marks a pretty significant anniversary in the history of the professional indoor tanning community.<\/p>\n

Twenty-nine years ago Matt Russell hired me \u2013 that\u2019s not<\/em> the significant anniversary, but it\u2019s hard to believe Matt and I have been working together that long \u2013 and gave me a single task: Find out the truth about the science related to sun exposure. We want to know.<\/p>\n

I had been an investigative business reporter in my early 20s. So, this was an interesting challenge. \u201cDon\u2019t blue sky it,\u201d he told me. \u201cWe want the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s turned into a 29-year passion. For both of us.<\/p>\n

There was no internet back then. No readily accessible science upon which to base any conclusions. But an increasing amount of \u201csun scare\u201d citations in the press \u2013 each time without reference or access to actual data. So I spent much of about six months in the Taubman Health Sciences Library at the University of Michigan (with a photocopy card) finding the science, photocopying medical journal articles and studies, and then talking with many of the researchers themselves.<\/p>\n

It was a tough project. But Matt was committed to taking it on. And looking back on it today I\u2019m still struck by the fact that the core of what we learned back then continues to be true today: There\u2019s a huge gap in sun-care messaging that is still being ignored: In spite of mounting science supporting balance in sun care, no one was trying to separate the data about sunburn from the data about non-burning sun exposure. And no one was respecting any of the nuance of sun-care messaging. And there\u2019s still a lot more money made telling people to avoid any<\/em> sunlight than will ever be made telling people to simply prevent sunburn based on their skin type.<\/p>\n

Matt and I reviewed that project and parlayed it into \u201cSmart Tan Month\u201d in July 1993 and 1994, and eventually into International Smart Tan Network in 1996, which was always much more than just a tanning training program. It was and is a values-based group of tanning facilities and professionals committed to training their staffs and communities the right way and promoting what we coined all those years ago as \u201cThe Golden Rule of Smart Tanning\u201d: Don\u2019t EVER sunburn.<\/p>\n

Twenty-five years ago this month, Matt and I launched Smart Tan at \u201cSmart Tan \u201996: The Big Show in Orlando.\u201d It was a more than just a training program. It was, and is, a movement that stood for defining and promoting the best of what our market can be when we do our jobs correctly: Part of the solution.<\/p>\n

And we\u2019re both proud that we\u2019re able to use all of Smart Tan\u2019s commitment for 25 years as a big part of what we both do in support of the American Suntanning Association today. That groundwork \u2013 and our solid dedication to each other through the years in the pursuit of answers to the tanning community\u2019s biggest challenges \u2013 is a big part of what helps us both in our roles with ASA.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what led up to that moment 25 years ago.<\/p>\n

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Joseph Levy This month marks a pretty significant anniversary in the history of the professional indoor tanning community. Twenty-nine years ago Matt Russell hired me \u2013 that\u2019s not the significant anniversary, but it\u2019s hard to believe Matt and I have been working together that long \u2013 and gave me a single task: Find out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSmart Tan Turns 25: The story behind the movement - Smart Tan News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Joseph Levy This month marks a pretty significant anniversary in the history of the professional indoor tanning community. Twenty-nine years ago Matt Russell hired me \u2013 that\u2019s not the significant anniversary, but it\u2019s hard to believe Matt and I have been working together that long \u2013 and gave me a single task: Find out the truth about the science related to sun exposure. We want to know. I had been an investigative business reporter in my early 20s. So, this was an interesting challenge. \u201cDon\u2019t blue sky it,\u201d he told me. \u201cWe want the truth.\u201d It\u2019s turned into a 29-year passion. For both of us. There was no internet back then. No readily accessible science upon which to base any conclusions. But an increasing amount of \u201csun scare\u201d citations in the press \u2013 each time without reference or access to actual data. So I spent much of about six months in the Taubman Health Sciences Library at the University of Michigan (with a photocopy card) finding the science, photocopying medical journal articles and studies, and then talking with many of the researchers themselves. It was a tough project. But Matt was committed to taking it on. And looking back on it today I\u2019m still struck by the fact that the core of what we learned back then continues to be true today: There\u2019s a huge gap in sun-care messaging that is still being ignored: In spite of mounting science supporting balance in sun care, no one was trying to separate the data about sunburn from the data about non-burning sun exposure. And no one was respecting any of the nuance of sun-care messaging. And there\u2019s still a lot more money made telling people to avoid any sunlight than will ever be made telling people to simply prevent sunburn based on their skin type. Matt and I reviewed that project and parlayed it into \u201cSmart Tan Month\u201d in July 1993 and 1994, and eventually into International Smart Tan Network in 1996, which was always much more than just a tanning training program. It was and is a values-based group of tanning facilities and professionals committed to training their staffs and communities the right way and promoting what we coined all those years ago as \u201cThe Golden Rule of Smart Tanning\u201d: Don\u2019t EVER sunburn. Twenty-five years ago this month, Matt and I launched Smart Tan at \u201cSmart Tan \u201996: The Big Show in Orlando.\u201d It was a more than just a training program. It was, and is, a movement that stood for defining and promoting the best of what our market can be when we do our jobs correctly: Part of the solution. And we\u2019re both proud that we\u2019re able to use all of Smart Tan\u2019s commitment for 25 years as a big part of what we both do in support of the American Suntanning Association today. That groundwork \u2013 and our solid dedication to each other through the years in the pursuit of answers to the tanning community\u2019s biggest challenges \u2013 is a big part of what helps us both in our roles with ASA. Here\u2019s what led up to that moment 25 years ago. Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Smart Tan Turns 25: The story behind the movement - Smart Tan News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Joseph Levy This month marks a pretty significant anniversary in the history of the professional indoor tanning community. Twenty-nine years ago Matt Russell hired me \u2013 that\u2019s not the significant anniversary, but it\u2019s hard to believe Matt and I have been working together that long \u2013 and gave me a single task: Find out the truth about the science related to sun exposure. We want to know. I had been an investigative business reporter in my early 20s. So, this was an interesting challenge. \u201cDon\u2019t blue sky it,\u201d he told me. \u201cWe want the truth.\u201d It\u2019s turned into a 29-year passion. For both of us. There was no internet back then. No readily accessible science upon which to base any conclusions. But an increasing amount of \u201csun scare\u201d citations in the press \u2013 each time without reference or access to actual data. So I spent much of about six months in the Taubman Health Sciences Library at the University of Michigan (with a photocopy card) finding the science, photocopying medical journal articles and studies, and then talking with many of the researchers themselves. It was a tough project. But Matt was committed to taking it on. And looking back on it today I\u2019m still struck by the fact that the core of what we learned back then continues to be true today: There\u2019s a huge gap in sun-care messaging that is still being ignored: In spite of mounting science supporting balance in sun care, no one was trying to separate the data about sunburn from the data about non-burning sun exposure. And no one was respecting any of the nuance of sun-care messaging. And there\u2019s still a lot more money made telling people to avoid any sunlight than will ever be made telling people to simply prevent sunburn based on their skin type. Matt and I reviewed that project and parlayed it into \u201cSmart Tan Month\u201d in July 1993 and 1994, and eventually into International Smart Tan Network in 1996, which was always much more than just a tanning training program. It was and is a values-based group of tanning facilities and professionals committed to training their staffs and communities the right way and promoting what we coined all those years ago as \u201cThe Golden Rule of Smart Tanning\u201d: Don\u2019t EVER sunburn. Twenty-five years ago this month, Matt and I launched Smart Tan at \u201cSmart Tan \u201996: The Big Show in Orlando.\u201d It was a more than just a training program. It was, and is, a movement that stood for defining and promoting the best of what our market can be when we do our jobs correctly: Part of the solution. And we\u2019re both proud that we\u2019re able to use all of Smart Tan\u2019s commitment for 25 years as a big part of what we both do in support of the American Suntanning Association today. That groundwork \u2013 and our solid dedication to each other through the years in the pursuit of answers to the tanning community\u2019s biggest challenges \u2013 is a big part of what helps us both in our roles with ASA. Here\u2019s what led up to that moment 25 years ago. Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Tan News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SmartTan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-08T12:18:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-08T12:29:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/1996-01-Cover.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1013\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"smarttannews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SmartTan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SmartTan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"smarttannews\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"smarttannews\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/722dc7049af55e0ed743d67ce9ed4819\"},\"headline\":\"Smart Tan Turns 25: The story behind the movement\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-08T12:18:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-08T12:29:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/\"},\"wordCount\":551,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/1996-01-Cover.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/\",\"name\":\"Smart Tan Turns 25: The story behind the movement - Smart Tan News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/1996-01-Cover.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-08T12:18:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-08T12:29:23+00:00\",\"description\":\"By Joseph Levy This month marks a pretty significant anniversary in the history of the professional indoor tanning community. 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So I spent much of about six months in the Taubman Health Sciences Library at the University of Michigan (with a photocopy card) finding the science, photocopying medical journal articles and studies, and then talking with many of the researchers themselves. It was a tough project. But Matt was committed to taking it on. And looking back on it today I\u2019m still struck by the fact that the core of what we learned back then continues to be true today: There\u2019s a huge gap in sun-care messaging that is still being ignored: In spite of mounting science supporting balance in sun care, no one was trying to separate the data about sunburn from the data about non-burning sun exposure. And no one was respecting any of the nuance of sun-care messaging. And there\u2019s still a lot more money made telling people to avoid any sunlight than will ever be made telling people to simply prevent sunburn based on their skin type. 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Twenty-nine years ago Matt Russell hired me \u2013 that\u2019s not the significant anniversary, but it\u2019s hard to believe Matt and I have been working together that long \u2013 and gave me a single task: Find out the truth about the science related to sun exposure. We want to know. I had been an investigative business reporter in my early 20s. So, this was an interesting challenge. \u201cDon\u2019t blue sky it,\u201d he told me. \u201cWe want the truth.\u201d It\u2019s turned into a 29-year passion. For both of us. There was no internet back then. No readily accessible science upon which to base any conclusions. But an increasing amount of \u201csun scare\u201d citations in the press \u2013 each time without reference or access to actual data. So I spent much of about six months in the Taubman Health Sciences Library at the University of Michigan (with a photocopy card) finding the science, photocopying medical journal articles and studies, and then talking with many of the researchers themselves. It was a tough project. But Matt was committed to taking it on. And looking back on it today I\u2019m still struck by the fact that the core of what we learned back then continues to be true today: There\u2019s a huge gap in sun-care messaging that is still being ignored: In spite of mounting science supporting balance in sun care, no one was trying to separate the data about sunburn from the data about non-burning sun exposure. And no one was respecting any of the nuance of sun-care messaging. And there\u2019s still a lot more money made telling people to avoid any sunlight than will ever be made telling people to simply prevent sunburn based on their skin type. Matt and I reviewed that project and parlayed it into \u201cSmart Tan Month\u201d in July 1993 and 1994, and eventually into International Smart Tan Network in 1996, which was always much more than just a tanning training program. It was and is a values-based group of tanning facilities and professionals committed to training their staffs and communities the right way and promoting what we coined all those years ago as \u201cThe Golden Rule of Smart Tanning\u201d: Don\u2019t EVER sunburn. Twenty-five years ago this month, Matt and I launched Smart Tan at \u201cSmart Tan \u201996: The Big Show in Orlando.\u201d It was a more than just a training program. It was, and is, a movement that stood for defining and promoting the best of what our market can be when we do our jobs correctly: Part of the solution. And we\u2019re both proud that we\u2019re able to use all of Smart Tan\u2019s commitment for 25 years as a big part of what we both do in support of the American Suntanning Association today. That groundwork \u2013 and our solid dedication to each other through the years in the pursuit of answers to the tanning community\u2019s biggest challenges \u2013 is a big part of what helps us both in our roles with ASA. Here\u2019s what led up to that moment 25 years ago. Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Smart Tan Turns 25: The story behind the movement - Smart Tan News","og_description":"By Joseph Levy This month marks a pretty significant anniversary in the history of the professional indoor tanning community. Twenty-nine years ago Matt Russell hired me \u2013 that\u2019s not the significant anniversary, but it\u2019s hard to believe Matt and I have been working together that long \u2013 and gave me a single task: Find out the truth about the science related to sun exposure. We want to know. I had been an investigative business reporter in my early 20s. So, this was an interesting challenge. \u201cDon\u2019t blue sky it,\u201d he told me. \u201cWe want the truth.\u201d It\u2019s turned into a 29-year passion. For both of us. There was no internet back then. No readily accessible science upon which to base any conclusions. But an increasing amount of \u201csun scare\u201d citations in the press \u2013 each time without reference or access to actual data. So I spent much of about six months in the Taubman Health Sciences Library at the University of Michigan (with a photocopy card) finding the science, photocopying medical journal articles and studies, and then talking with many of the researchers themselves. It was a tough project. But Matt was committed to taking it on. And looking back on it today I\u2019m still struck by the fact that the core of what we learned back then continues to be true today: There\u2019s a huge gap in sun-care messaging that is still being ignored: In spite of mounting science supporting balance in sun care, no one was trying to separate the data about sunburn from the data about non-burning sun exposure. And no one was respecting any of the nuance of sun-care messaging. And there\u2019s still a lot more money made telling people to avoid any sunlight than will ever be made telling people to simply prevent sunburn based on their skin type. Matt and I reviewed that project and parlayed it into \u201cSmart Tan Month\u201d in July 1993 and 1994, and eventually into International Smart Tan Network in 1996, which was always much more than just a tanning training program. It was and is a values-based group of tanning facilities and professionals committed to training their staffs and communities the right way and promoting what we coined all those years ago as \u201cThe Golden Rule of Smart Tanning\u201d: Don\u2019t EVER sunburn. Twenty-five years ago this month, Matt and I launched Smart Tan at \u201cSmart Tan \u201996: The Big Show in Orlando.\u201d It was a more than just a training program. It was, and is, a movement that stood for defining and promoting the best of what our market can be when we do our jobs correctly: Part of the solution. And we\u2019re both proud that we\u2019re able to use all of Smart Tan\u2019s commitment for 25 years as a big part of what we both do in support of the American Suntanning Association today. That groundwork \u2013 and our solid dedication to each other through the years in the pursuit of answers to the tanning community\u2019s biggest challenges \u2013 is a big part of what helps us both in our roles with ASA. Here\u2019s what led up to that moment 25 years ago. Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.","og_url":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/","og_site_name":"Smart Tan News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SmartTan","article_published_time":"2021-09-08T12:18:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-09-08T12:29:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1360,"height":1013,"url":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/1996-01-Cover.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"smarttannews","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@SmartTan","twitter_site":"@SmartTan","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"smarttannews","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/"},"author":{"name":"smarttannews","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/722dc7049af55e0ed743d67ce9ed4819"},"headline":"Smart Tan Turns 25: The story behind the movement","datePublished":"2021-09-08T12:18:05+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-08T12:29:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/"},"wordCount":551,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/1996-01-Cover.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/","url":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/","name":"Smart Tan Turns 25: The story behind the movement - Smart Tan News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/1996-01-Cover.jpg","datePublished":"2021-09-08T12:18:05+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-08T12:29:23+00:00","description":"By Joseph Levy This month marks a pretty significant anniversary in the history of the professional indoor tanning community. Twenty-nine years ago Matt Russell hired me \u2013 that\u2019s not the significant anniversary, but it\u2019s hard to believe Matt and I have been working together that long \u2013 and gave me a single task: Find out the truth about the science related to sun exposure. We want to know. I had been an investigative business reporter in my early 20s. So, this was an interesting challenge. \u201cDon\u2019t blue sky it,\u201d he told me. \u201cWe want the truth.\u201d It\u2019s turned into a 29-year passion. For both of us. There was no internet back then. No readily accessible science upon which to base any conclusions. But an increasing amount of \u201csun scare\u201d citations in the press \u2013 each time without reference or access to actual data. So I spent much of about six months in the Taubman Health Sciences Library at the University of Michigan (with a photocopy card) finding the science, photocopying medical journal articles and studies, and then talking with many of the researchers themselves. It was a tough project. But Matt was committed to taking it on. And looking back on it today I\u2019m still struck by the fact that the core of what we learned back then continues to be true today: There\u2019s a huge gap in sun-care messaging that is still being ignored: In spite of mounting science supporting balance in sun care, no one was trying to separate the data about sunburn from the data about non-burning sun exposure. And no one was respecting any of the nuance of sun-care messaging. And there\u2019s still a lot more money made telling people to avoid any sunlight than will ever be made telling people to simply prevent sunburn based on their skin type. Matt and I reviewed that project and parlayed it into \u201cSmart Tan Month\u201d in July 1993 and 1994, and eventually into International Smart Tan Network in 1996, which was always much more than just a tanning training program. It was and is a values-based group of tanning facilities and professionals committed to training their staffs and communities the right way and promoting what we coined all those years ago as \u201cThe Golden Rule of Smart Tanning\u201d: Don\u2019t EVER sunburn. Twenty-five years ago this month, Matt and I launched Smart Tan at \u201cSmart Tan \u201996: The Big Show in Orlando.\u201d It was a more than just a training program. It was, and is, a movement that stood for defining and promoting the best of what our market can be when we do our jobs correctly: Part of the solution. And we\u2019re both proud that we\u2019re able to use all of Smart Tan\u2019s commitment for 25 years as a big part of what we both do in support of the American Suntanning Association today. That groundwork \u2013 and our solid dedication to each other through the years in the pursuit of answers to the tanning community\u2019s biggest challenges \u2013 is a big part of what helps us both in our roles with ASA. Here\u2019s what led up to that moment 25 years ago. Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/1996-01-Cover.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/1996-01-Cover.jpg","width":1360,"height":1013},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/smart-tan-turns-25-the-story-behind-the-movement\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Smart Tan Turns 25: The story behind the movement"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/","name":"Smart Tan News","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#organization","name":"Smart Tan","url":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/smarttan.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Smart-Tan.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/smarttan.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Smart-Tan.png","width":500,"height":164,"caption":"Smart Tan"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SmartTan","https:\/\/x.com\/SmartTan"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/722dc7049af55e0ed743d67ce9ed4819","name":"smarttannews","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0189f76465f47ce293287354f8076bfdb83130e65538eb34fcd2cd44e9f0e53?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0189f76465f47ce293287354f8076bfdb83130e65538eb34fcd2cd44e9f0e53?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0189f76465f47ce293287354f8076bfdb83130e65538eb34fcd2cd44e9f0e53?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"smarttannews"},"url":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/author\/smarttannews\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23752"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23756,"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23752\/revisions\/23756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}