Sunscreen brand Banana Boat is facing a large backlash from sunburned holidaymakers in Australia and New Zealand who claim to have been left red and blistered after using its product.

Banana Boat's Facebook page has been bombarded with messages from angry customers, telling their personal stories of sunburn anguish after using the product and going out in the sun.

The social media backlash was sparked by Australian woman Melliiee Hunter, after she published a post a few days ago including photographs of her 9-year-old son and his friend who were burned while spending Australia Day at the beach.

The boys were "lathered" in Banana Boat's sport performance SPF30 brand, she said, and she had reapplied the sunscreen after two hours.


However, the next day he was "glowing red", she said, and his face had begun to blister.

A pharmacist told her the boy had second degree burns to his face, she said.

Her post has been shared more than 15,000 times, and unleashed a raft of similar stories onto the suncream manufacturer's Facebook page.

Kiwi Angela Juggins vowed never to use Banana Boat again. Photo / Facebook

Alex Walsh, in Auckland, said: "I used this on my 3.5yo this week. I reapplied as per the instructions but to my horror my son still got badly burnt.

So bad that it blistered.

"I am not impressed. This isn't the first of your sun protection products that has failed me.

"I won't be purchasing from banana boat in future. Sort it out. This is dangerous."

Fellow New Zealander Angela Juggins vowed never to use Banana Boat again.


"I don't tan much instead go red so I thought this was a good product. Not only did I get burnt my family did as well as my friends family. We were in the sun a max of 4 hours and reapplied after only 2 hours. So not happy banana boat."

Manda Sharp posted a photograph of her burned and blistered face, saying: "Thanks for the blistered face banana boat!!!"

Michael Ritchie said described Banana Boat as "the most putrid sunscreen available".

"Applied your SPF50 4 times today and still got sunburnt. Cheers for that."

Gold Coast woman Alisya Glass said: "My kids got badly burnt on their face mid January from the Sport 50+ spray. Also stung their eyes badly. So expensive for this product ... thought I was buying quality but obviously not. Not happy either."

And Ellie Frances said her 7-year-old daughter was "incredibly burnt" after three hours in and out of the sun during a birthday party while wearing Banana Boat's Sports SPF50 suncream.


"She had three separate and thorough applications of it in that relatively short time of playing outside, your product isn't even remotely effective and I will be taking this further, shame on your company for allowing such a poor product to be sold! My daughter is in an incredible amount of pain and will undoubtedly be missing school because of it, what are you going to do about it?!?!"

Tegz Mee said she agreed with people who said adults needed to take responsibility for properly following the directions on the suncream, including applying and re-applying, but said she had a similar experience.

"On a 25 degree day at the zoo with full clothing, hat and sheltered pram hood and my son still got burnt after using banana boat. It burnt my face without going anywhere and gave me hives.

"There is definitely something not right about their product and that to me is a concern."

Sarah Curran-Smith said: "We used your black tube of SPF50, applied 20 mins before going in the sun, reapplied hourly due to being in a pool, all 4 children got sunburnt! You need to do something about your products and stop letting children get burnt!! This is disgusting!!"

Joshua Hendi Hendrick said the company had "lost a customer" after she got burned.


"Used your 50SPF Broad Spectrum Sport Sunscreen on Aus Day, Applied 30min before swimming and Every hour after that and still managed to get sunburnt.

"When I pay for a premium sunscreen the last thing I expect is to be sunburnt after following the products directions to a T."

However, Bec Hunt said she had no issue with Banana Boat's effectiveness.

"I have super dooper fair skin ... I've used Banana Boat sunscreens for years and never had a problem with sunburn. I've used the kiddy one for my son since he was a baby ... no sunburn, no issues."

Sairey Delmont had a similar story.

"My children do not use Banana boat as they have a reaction to it due to their Exczema.. but my partner does use Banana Boat and has never had issues at all and is in the sun all day.


"Testing a small part of ur skin or ur childs skin for a reaction is the best bet ... rather then smothering it all over and realizing they have a reaction."

Carole Krimchanski-Cooper also said she had used Banana Boat "for years".

"I apply liberally to my kids every half hour and/or each time they come out of the water ... have never had a problem.

"Great product for people with a bit of common sense. Keep up the good work Banana Boat ... your product rocks."

Amy Coleman from Tasmania said she had used the product on her children "all summer" and "have been very happy". "Even on fair skinned toddler."

Banana Boat's parent company Edgewell Personal Care told the Sydney Morning Herald it was not aware of any specific issues with its sport performance SPF30 product.


All its suncreams met tough standards and complied with Therapeutic Goods Administration regulations, Rachel Pullicino, Edgewell's marketing director, told the newspaper.

"During summer we sometimes receive complaints from consumers who have experienced sunburn," she said.

"We want to reassure our consumers that we are confident that all Banana Boat sunscreen products labelled with an SPF offer the stated level of SPF if stored and applied as directed on the label."

Another women, Lauren Stanford, who posted a photograph of her sunburned legs after a day's kayaking for her son's birthday, said she had second degree burns despite applying suncream twice between 11am and 4pm.

The company had replied to her complaint, she said, and asked for a batch number and requested she sent the bottle back for testing.