Expert is not impressed by TV ad regulations
By Gedsiri Suhartono
JAKARTA (JP): The new broadcasting law does not go far enough to protect consumers from the ill effects of television advertising, communications expert M. Budyatna said Saturday.
"A legislation should be enacted to protect the people, instead of subjecting them to misconstrued traps," Budyatna of University of Indonesia told The Jakarta Post.
It is verifiably obsolete because it fails to anticipate future changes affecting the broadcasting industry and consumers, said the dean of the School of Social and Political Sciences.
Increasing business competition was bound to put pressure on companies advertising their products, inevitably to the detriment of consumers, he said.
"Advertising is supposed to educate people to become better consumers, more informed buyers, instead of making them the advertiser's captive," he said.
The advertising industry should incorporate the idea of educating people to be informed consumers, he said.
"Most of our advertising, unfortunately, only deceives people with empty promises," he said. "Consumers should not expect producers to protect them because the advertisers' main goal is to reap profits from their product."
The new legislation does not provide adequate protection for consumers from bogus advertising techniques, he added.
The House of Representatives this month endorsed the government sponsored Bill on Broadcasting after subjecting it to tough scrutiny. The bill has gone to President Soeharto for his signature before it becomes law, which is imminent.
One section of the bill deals with advertising on television and radio, the subject of a recent controversial and often emotional debate.
The bill deals with some concerns about the effects of television advertising. For example, it requires every television advertisement be subject to censorship.
While it bans advertising alcohol and addictive substances, the bill falls short of banning cigarette advertisements. Instead, commercials depicting smoking are prohibited.
Violation penalties ranges from administrative sanctions to imprisonment of up to 10 years.
Abu Hasan Sazili, a House member who chaired the committee deliberating the bill, said the bill did not ban cigarette advertising because the cigarette industry in Indonesia provided jobs for many people.
When contacted by the Post Saturday, Sazili said he believed the bill had sufficiently addressed the concerns expressed about the effects of advertising.
The bill defines acceptable and unacceptable advertising norms, he said, adding the public was expected to pitch in with constructive suggestions.
"We hope the bill will create a conducive atmosphere for broadcast advertising while at the same time protecting consumers from bad ads," Sazili said.
Koes Pudjianto, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Advertising Companies, told the Post the new law, when it becomes effective, would not really change much in the way the industry operates.
"Restrictions imposed by the law have long existed, and we have complied with them," Koes said.
The advertising industry is often accused of catering to so called "bad taste" advertising just to ensure messages reach the heterogeneous public.
Koes said 95 percent of broadcast advertisements met the good advertising criteria stipulated by the association, namely that they be persuasive, desirable and believable.
"What's more important right now is to establish the broadcasting code of ethics, since the advertising industry has theirs," Koes said.
The advertising code of conduct was amended in August to encompass television advertising.
Commercial broadcasters succeeded in lobbying against allowing state-run TVRI to run advertisements. State television, which has a wider reach than the five commercial stations, will be allowed to run only public service advertisements.
"It's the same difference, public service advertisements serve mainly to build corporate images, although they claim to provide the public with food for thought," Budyatna said.