Cigarette TV commercials
Cigarette TV commercials
From Kompas
There are now quite a few TV commercials advertising various
cigarette brands: Djarum Super on ANteve; Bentoel Mild and
Sampoerna Hijau on Indosiar; Djarum Super, Djarum Coklat, Djarum
Filter, Ardath and Pall Mall on RCTI; Gudang Garam, Djarum
Coklat, Lucky Strike, Bentoel Mild, Pall Mall, Marlboro and
Wismilak on SCTV; and A King, Jarum Super, Ardath and Djie Sam
Soe on TPI.
Tulus Abadi, coordinator of the cigarette advertisement
monitoring team at the Indonesian Consumers Foundation, said in
Kompas in May 2000 that Government Regulation No. 81/1999 reduces
the space to be allotted to cigarette advertising in the print
media and prohibits the appearance of cigarette advertising in
the electronic media. Despite this government regulation, our
television stations continue to air commercials for cigarettes.
It shows law enforcement and compliance with the law in our
society are still lacking.
Everybody knows that cigarettes are harmful to human health.
As reported in Kompas recently, Dr. Tjandra Yoga Aditama, the
chairman of the central board of the Indonesian Association of
Pulmonary Doctors (PPDI), said a cigarette contains 4,000
hazardous chemicals which may cause the incidence of 26 diseases
attacking the lungs, heart, veins, respiratory organs and
stomach, including cancer. Another disadvantage of cigarettes is
impotence in men, while women will face early signs of aging and
reproductive health trouble.
It is now time for the health ministry and Commission VII of
the House of Representatives, which deals with health and
population affairs, to take steps against the appearance of
cigarette commercials on TV. An increasing number of TV
commercials advertising cigarettes will render futile the efforts
by community health organizations such as the Indonesian Heart
Foundation, the Indonesian Cancer Foundation and PDPI to reduce
the number of smokers.
There is reason enough to be alarmed by the number of smokers
in Indonesia, which Dr. Tjandra Yoga Aditama says is the fourth
highest figure in the world.
YUSUF M.
Jombang, East Java