A controversial ‘sunburn competition’ has been axed following complaints that it was ‘irresponsible’.

Airport news for Travel on 06/10/2011.

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Online travel firm Deal Checker was slated to give away a free holiday for the winners of the contest with the slogan of ‘earn while you burn’, in which judges would compare the severity of sunburns sent in by consumers. But it has since been called off by organisers after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that the move was irresponsible and could be interpreted to ‘trivialise’ potentially dangerous sunburns.

The company said the competition was simply light-hearted effort to promote safety among sunbathers and that it had intended for contestants to use older photos rather than new ones. But after pulling the plug, DMC, the parent firm of Deal Checker released a statement saying that after careful thinking it did not want people risking their skin simply for the purpose of entering the contest.

Site officials also defended the contest by pointing out that runners-up would have received prizes such as sun cream and that many of those posting sunburns via social media had noted that the pictures were old.

Nonetheless, the ASA said the company would not be allowed to hold the competition again and ordered it to remove all related content and advertisements.

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