The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2026
mycar's 'Sunburnt Car' (2026): prosthetic-skin interior shows UV damage while driving
An Australian car chain reupholstered a car interior in hyper-real skin that visibly burns under UV — 65% of drivers skip sunscreen before driving.
mycar Tyre & Auto · TBWA\Eleven Australia
What it had to solve
Research commissioned by mycar found a gap between belief and behaviour: 92% of Australians call themselves sun-safe, yet 72% overlook protection while driving or riding, 70% believe the car shields them, 39% think windows block UV, and 65% do not apply sunscreen before driving. Australians drive on average 12,000 km a year; a tyre-and-servicing brand had no obvious health mandate, so mycar used the gap to prove it cares about customers beyond the workshop.
How it works
mycar's research exposed a blind spot: 92% of Australians consider themselves sun-safe, but 72% overlook protection while driving or riding, 70% believe the car protects them, 39% think windows block UV, and 65% do not apply sunscreen before driving. Australians drive roughly 12,000 km a year, so the exposure is routine — and invisible, because UVA crosses window glass.
TBWA\Eleven Australia and Odd Studio built The Sunburnt Car: a vehicle interior reupholstered in hyper-real prosthetic skin whose freckles, moles and hairs were applied by hand, some moles deliberately resembling early skin-cancer signs. Launched at Circular Quay in Sydney, the car visibly reddened and damaged under UV, advised by surgeon-scientist Dr Joanneke Maitz and fronted by stage IV melanoma survivor Anne Gately, author of Sunburnt.
The installation won Australia's first Gold Lion of Cannes Lions 2026 — one of seven Outdoor Golds from 1,410 entries — plus a Silver in Industry Craft. It did not stop at the stunt: 55,000 UV-sensitive 'Sun Spot' stickers began rolling out through 275+ mycar locations, prompted by research that 66% of Australians wanted a visual reminder before driving.
Why it lands
- It made an invisible risk visible instead of warning about it: drivers watched a car interior's skin redden, freckle and age under UV in real time.
- The message corrected a belief gap in the audience's own head — 92% felt sun-safe while 65% skipped sunscreen — so the campaign felt revelatory, not lecturing.
- It kept working after the installation: free UV-sensing stickers at every location turned one shocking moment into a daily prompt, extending a health message from a car brand.
What it did
The campaign took Australia's first Gold Lion of Cannes Lions 2026: one of seven Outdoor Golds from 1,410 entries (40 Lions total). A second Lion followed in Industry Craft, where 649 entries produced only two Golds. mycar then distributed 55,000 UV-sensitive 'Sun Spot' stickers through more than 275 locations, after research found 66% of Australians would use an in-car visual reminder.
What you can take
A service brand can own a health message when the insight is made physical: prosthetic craft so convincing that invisible UV damage becomes visible turns a tyre chain into a brand that visibly cares.
Since then
The Sunburnt Car became the story of Australia's opening day at Cannes Lions 2026 and earned mycar, TBWA\Eleven and their production partners a second Lion days later; trade press archived it as the festival's first Australian Gold. The sticker rollout continued through mycar's network, and the brand's wider behaviour-led work — including its earlier 'Return Plates' road-safety initiative — framed the campaign as part of a pattern, not a one-off.
Sources
- The Sunburnt Car Highlights Sun Exposure Risks While Driving
- TBWASydney wins Australia's first Gold Lion for 2026 in Cannes Outdoor Lions
- Australia claims Gold and Silver on opening day of Cannes Lions 2026
- TBWA/Sydney's 'Sunburnt Car' campaign wins second Cannes Lion
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