When is advertising no longer child's play?<\/p>\n
By Bruce Emond<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It could be termed the \"Joshua Phenomenon\". With
\nhis impish grin, trademark Rip Van Winkle cap and high cuteness
\nquotient, Joshua Suherman is the reigning prince charming of the
\ncountry's entertainment world.<\/p>\n
His signal tune Diobok-obok (All stirred up) was adopted as a
\nreform movement metaphor, telling of the \"little fish\" tossed
\naround in tumultuous seas. The precocious seven-year-old stars in
\nhis own TV comedy series, the aptly named Joshua Anak Ajaib
\n(Joshua the Wonder Boy), and is the host of a weekly TV quiz
\nshow.<\/p>\n
If imitation is really the sincerest form of flattery, then
\nJoshua rules the roost. His winning ways with the public have
\nspawned a legion of pretenders vying for a piece of his kingdom,
\nalthough few measure up to his command of mimicry and unusually
\nmature comebacks.<\/p>\n
Joshua's potential marketability has not been lost on
\nadvertisers. He has endorsed a slew of products, from candy to
\nmultivitamins, a printer and powdered milk, for a reported asking
\nprice of Rp 100 million a pitch.<\/p>\n
He has literally set the stage for a host of other child stars
\nand would-be advertising moppets whose grinning faces adorn
\nbillboards and TV screens across the land.<\/p>\n
But even in an advertising industry desperate to pull itself
\nout of the lingering economic crisis, there are voices of
\ndisquiet about the use of children to plug products unrelated to
\ntheir daily lives.<\/p>\n
\"The industry has a code of ethics which stipulates that
\nchildren cannot be used in advertising unrelated products,\" said
\nYusca Ismail from Perwanal Darcy advertising.<\/p>\n
\"That means they can advertise milk or a candy, but it is
\ninappropriate to use them as the main spokesperson for, say, a
\ncar or medicine.\"<\/p>\n
Yusca is a member of the Indonesian Advertising Association's
\nSupervisory Board, which meets monthly to discuss complaints
\nregarding advertisements. He said the industry's code of ethics
\nand various regulations pertained to the use of children in
\nadvertising, but the Supervisory Board lacked teeth in
\ndisciplining errant advertisers.<\/p>\n
\"It is a case of a lot of rules but very little enforcement.
\nWe don't have the power to enforce them -- if our members want to
\nlisten, that's good, but they can just as easily ignore our
\nreports.\"<\/p>\n
Yusca said ultimately it came down to the ticklish problem of
\nthe bottom line.<\/p>\n
\"We can urge our members to follow the code of ethics, but if
\nthey don't, then it is up to the media to reject those ads which
\nare inappropriate. The problem is that we are talking about a lot
\nof money here, and very few, if any, media companies are in the
\nposition to reject ads.\"<\/p>\n
It is up to ad agencies to nudge clients into appropriate
\nterritory in using children for advertisements, said MACS909
\nexecutive creative director Ariyanto Zainal.<\/p>\n
\"The client may be pushing for the use of a particular star,
\nlike Joshua, even though the agency feels its inappropriate.
\nWe're working for them, they're the king, but we're also working
\nfor their best interests. So we have to redirect the client, to
\nmeet somewhere in the middle. At the end of the day, the client
\nis happy and we are happy.\"<\/p>\n
While Yusca and Ariyanto acknowledged that Joshua was one of a
\nkind for kids in Indonesian advertising, they both expressed
\nconcern that he was being overused.<\/p>\n
\"There comes a time when you reach the saturation point,\"
\nYusca said. \"My concern is that he often advertises products
\nunrelated to him, and I can't understand that from a marketing
\npoint of view.\"<\/p>\n
Ariyanto drew parallels between Joshua's ubiquitous presence
\nand advertisers' recurring use a couple of years ago of Rano
\nKarno because of his popularity as Doel, the protagonist from the
\nTV series Si Doel Anak Sekolahan (Doel the Graduate), and his
\nchipmunk-cheeked doltish sidekick Mandra.<\/p>\n
\"Doel was just about everywhere,\" he recalled. \"But in terms
\nof marketing it's not beneficial to use the same person over and
\nover again. The public loses the connection to the brand or
\nproduct -- they remember the commercial because Doel was in it,
\nbut forget the product it was advertising.\"<\/p>\n
He said there was an inherent danger in using Joshua \"because
\nwhat is coming through is Joshua's personality, not the identity
\nof the brand\".<\/p>\n
Another concern is the welfare of the child actors and the
\ndanger of exploitation.<\/p>\n
The slippery slope of fame is littered with the bruised egos
\nof has-been child stars who lost their appeal once the ravages of
\npuberty set in. Most of the cautionary tales concern child actors
\nfrom the U.S., but at least one wildly popular teen queen pop
\nsinger in Indonesia and a male actor who made his name in the
\nearly 1980s died young, their deaths rumored to be related to
\ndrug abuse.<\/p>\n
Yusca said the ugly spectacle of stage mothers remained rare
\nin Indonesia, with most parents of child actors merely drawn by
\nthe novelty of seeing their offspring on TV.<\/p>\n
But he said it was up to those around child entertainers to
\npursue their best interests.<\/p>\n
\"It is really the responsibility of those who manage the
\nstars, and I'm talking here about both adult and child
\nentertainers, to manage them properly, to select the vehicles
\nwhich are right for them. They must always remember that there is
\na saturation point.\"<\/p>\n
Joshua's mother, Lisa, who manages her son's career along with
\nhusband Jeddy, answered the concerns in an interview last year.<\/p>\n
\"Nobody knows my son better than I do. I know when he feels
\nsick, when he's down, I'm always there for him. I know what is
\nbest for him.\"<\/p>\n
However, in a comment that some concerned observers of child
\nentertainers might consider disturbing, she added that Joshua was
\nalready a pro in determining what was best for his career.<\/p>\n
\"If he has a sore throat, he knows that he cannot eat krupuk
\n(fried prawn crackers) because it might make it worse. He knows
\nthat he wouldn't be able to sing as well on stage.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/when-is-advertising-no-longer-childs-play-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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