Cigarette maker pulls ad cartoon
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After being bombarded with criticism by educationists and politicians, cigarette maker PT HM Sampoerna has withdrawn a series of advertisements featuring cartoons characters.
HM Sampoerna, one of Indonesia's largest companies, is also facing possible legal action if the Indonesian Advertising Companies Association (P3I) rules HM Sampoerna breached laws.
The A Mild campaign, featuring animated characters, including animals such as ants, roosters, snails and squid dancing to music, has been aired on television, at all hours, and displayed on billboards.
"A Mild has decided to withdraw all (the cartoon ads)," HM Sampoerna spokeswoman Lita Soenardi said in a media statement.
Lita acknowledged that the move was in response to public reaction.
"The company has deemed it necessary to respond to the public input to prevent misinterpretation of the advertisement," she said.
Critics said that the animated advertisement sent the wrong message to children, who comprised the bulk of cartoon lovers, that smoking was good for them too.
Bu Kasur, a child education specialist, said it could have a "negative impact" on children's psychological development.
"All ads targeting children have to be stopped," said Ahmad Sanoesi Tambunan, a legislator in charge of education, who believes that most Indonesian children aged under 18 years already smoked.
PT HM Sampoerna has argued that it had no intention to mislead children with the advertisement, which, like its other ads, was a creative and modern work.
"None of our ads target children," Lita claimed.
Antara reported on Wednesday that P3I chief R.T.S. Masli had planned to take the case to a plenary session next week to decide if using cartoon figures was against the association's code of ethics.
The P3I code of ethics explicitly forbade ads targeting people aged under 18 in any forms, including cartoons, Masli said.
He pointed out that the Law of Protection of Children states that any company or advertising bureau that targeted children were liable to a maximum sentence of five years jail and a fine of Rp 2 billion.