Tobacco Brands Still Relentless on Advertising in Indonesia

Five-year-old Bayu was watching a movie on television. During the ad break, a barrage of cigarette ads streamed across the screen. Bayu was able to recognize the brand of each cigarette just by watching the commercials.
“They were funny. Those men were really funny and smart,” he said.
Bayu is also regulary exposed to cigarette branding while watching badminton on TV with his father, or while enjoying telecasts of music concerts. He has also seen ads created by a cigarette company that blatantly say “Don’t Quit” on their billboards, an advertising move it would be hard to mistake as having any other motive than to discourage smokers from kicking the habit.
World No Tobacco Day is celebrated worldwide today.
According to the World Health Organization, three of every four Indonesian children between the ages of 13 and 15 are exposed to cigarette ads on billboards and pro-tobacco messages at sporting events.
“In Indonesia, advertising, promotion and sponsorship went crazy after we passed the 2009 Health Law labeling tobacco an addictive substance,” says Kartono Muhammad, the head of the Tobacco Control Support Center at the Indonesian Health Experts Association (IAKMI).
“The tobacco industry has since been fighting fiercely to annul the regulation.”
According to data from research company Nielsen, Indonesian tobacco companies spent Rp 1.98 trillion ($202 million) in 2010 on cigarette advertisements.
“Our children first learn about cigarettes from ads, because even though wehave agreed that tobacco is an addictive substance, we have neglected to completely ban tobacco advertising,” Kartono says.
“It’s a double standard that we have banned alcohol advertising because alcohol is considered an addictive substance, but we allow advertising for cigarettes, which are also addictive. What makes cigarettes so special?”
Broadcast ban
“We are fighting for a total ban on cigarette ads, and to be honest it’s a very hard fight,” says Ezki Suyanto, the deputy chairwoman of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI).
Under the 2002 Broadcasting Law, cigarette ads on television may only be aired after 9:30 p.m. However, Ezki says that cigarette companies use many other methods to promote their products before then.
“In the afternoon, while children are still watching TV, you can see cigarette logos diplayed at music and sporting events, which is a form of advertising,” she says.
She added that the KPI recently reprimanded a TV station that had aired a quiz sponsored by a cigarette company during the daytime. “They argued they didn’t air any ads, but merely displayed the logo in the background. I said that even if it had just been the company colors without the logo, the KPI still classified it as an ad.”
Ezki notes that Indonesia is the only country in the Southeast Asian region that still allows cigarette ads to be aired on TV.
“In our country, after 9 p.m. the TV stations still bombard their viewers with cigarette ads, with practically no other ads being aired,” she says.
She adds the KPI has been lobbying for new regulations to challenge the current broadcasting regulations.
“What we want is a total ban, but the resistence is tremendous,” she says, adding that the KPI has been heavily criticized by television stations and legislators.
“It’s very hard to convince legislators, but we stand firm. Television and radio stations have direct access to the public, and so they have a responsibility not to promote dangerous substances,” Ezki says.