[LeFantome]

Robocop was making 2000 SPF jokes in 1997. That means that the risk of UV was something that people were “aware” of but the pop-culture take was that high-SPF sunscreens were a bit of a joke and “a terrible future” where you had to take it seriously was something to make fun of as well.

As I recall, the high-SPF sunscreen in the Robocop spoof included a warning that the sunscreen itself was carcinogenic. This is more evidence that that the intent was not to warn of the very real risks of the sun but rather to take shots at the rapid increase in SPF ratings ( going from 2 and 4 being normal and weirdos buying 8 to 30 and 45 being common on the shelf if memory serves ).

Edit: sorry, it was 5000 SPF https://youtu.be/8oJzfmWO3CU