Cigarette maker pulls ad cartoon

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politicians, cigarette maker PT HM Sampoerna has withdrawn a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.