As the people of Wales, and ex-pats like myself, woke to celebrate St. David’s Day this morning, many would have looked for the familiar sight of the Welsh flag to get them going.
Imagine their surprise when they spotted that at 30 landmark sites around Wales, including Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre and Pembroke Castle, the iconic red dragon has been replaced by…a red lobster.
Skin Care Cymru’s ‘Don’t be a lobster’ campaign made the move to highlight the increase in skin cancer in Wales over the last decade – a startling 86% in men and 44% in women. Given the country is so well-known for its lack lustre weather whatever the season, these figures are even more shocking.
The campaign works because I, like several of my fellow countrymen and women, were so confused (and slightly annoyed) to find our beloved dragon missing on St. David’s Day that we immediately wanted to know what the hell was going on. Wales Online was quick to unravel the mystery, along with other local outlets in locations where the flags were changed.
Monmouth AM Nick Ramsay was also part of the push, using the day to ask the Senedd to fully support the campaign for better sun awareness in Wales.
All in all, a decent stunt, with just enough mystery to warrant people getting to the bottom of who was behind it. Nice work, Skin Care Cymru.