How low can advertisements go?

How low can advertisements go?

There is little doubt that Indonesia's advertising industry
has started to pick up after the mid-1997 economic crisis. But
with more money up for grabs, combined with public calls for
greater freedom of expression, companies, advertising agencies
and the media are now more willing to stretch the levels of
acceptability, often leading to obscene, misleading and unlawful
ads. The Jakarta Post's K. Basrie has the following report.

JAKARTA (JP): Companies, advertising agencies and the media
are obviously familiar with the laws and code of ethics governing
advertising. They are also aware of the punishments incurred for
violating these regulations.

However, they also know how to play the game, exploiting legal
loopholes and the attitude of a society that is quick to forgive
and forget.

"We have adequate regulations and laws to punish and jail any
practitioners who break the rules. The problem is the government
is not serious about taking strict measures against violators.
The supremacy of the law here is still lacking," RTS Masli, the
acting chairman of the Indonesian Advertising Commission (KPI),
the ranking advertising-related association, told The Jakarta
Post.

Interviewed separately, Sutedjo Hadiwasito, the head of the
law and constitution department at the Indonesian Advertising
Agencies Association (PPPI), a member of KPI, said most unethical
or unlawful ads were carefully designed to take advantage of the
public's lack of awareness of advertising regulations.

"We call it a professional violation," Sutedjo said.

Advertising is controlled by a number of regulations and laws,
including Law No. 8/1999 on consumer protection, Law No. 23 on
health, the Civil Code, the Criminal Code, press laws and
Government Regulation No. 81/1999 and Government Act No. 38/2000,
both dealing with the control of cigarettes.

"Violators can actually be imprisoned," said Masli, who is
also the chairman of PPPI.

So far, he added, no one has ever been sent to prison for
violating these advertising laws and regulations.

The advertising industry -- through associations such as PPPI
-- also imposes its own internal code of ethics on members. Here,
the harshest punishment is the loss of association membership.

"That could mean the loss of business and professional
relationships," Masli said.

In many cases involving unethical advertisements, the
companies whose products are involved simply ask for forgiveness
from the public, gradually remove their products from the
shelves, put a temporary stop to all advertisements and promise
not to make the same mistake again.

But in some cases, marketing people in the media refuse to
stop running the advertisements, saying they have a contractual
agreement.

"We all have a social responsibility to the public (that we
must accept). Otherwise, we wouldn't survive," Masli said.

How low can they go?

Over the past few years, particularly during the monetary
crisis, the public were subjected to numerous cheap, unethical
and vulgar ads.

Many blame this on a combination of factors present in the
country. While numerous companies and media outlets are suffering
financially, the number of media outlets has actually risen,
while there is an eager public ecstatic with the new-found
freedom of expression introduced by president B.J. Habibie.

With companies, advertising agencies and media outlets all
scratching for survival, self-censorship and any responsibility
to the public have largely been brushed aside.

Critics contend that many advertisements in newspapers and
magazines, on TV and the radio, and on billboards across the
country have dropped all pretense of communicating to the public,
and instead have been marketing products by playing on human
emotions and employing techniques of clever persuasion.

They say these ads are essentially concerned with glorifying
the materialistic virtues of consumption by manipulating the
truth of products, exploiting human anxieties, resorting to
pornography, eliminating objective considerations and reducing
men, women and children to the role of irrational consumer.

While critics may overstate their case, many of their concerns
are well-founded, particularly outside of Jakarta where public
concern about such manipulation, legally termed fraud, is still
limited.

Violators

A number of products have been placed under the spotlight
during the past year for their advertisements.

Surveys conducted by several parties, including the Indonesian
Consumers Foundation (YLKI) and AC Nielsen, identified companies
manufacturing baby food, medicine, cigarettes, alcoholic and
energy drinks, and beauty products like shampoo, cosmetics and
soap as regular violators in advertising their products.

One of the latest controversies involved advertisements for
GIV soap featuring a semi-naked Sophia Latjuba. Like the posters
found at bus stops and pasted to walls in the city, a GIV
billboard on Jl. Warung Buncit Raya in South Jakarta was painted
over by unidentified parties.

And painted on the billboard, which has the slogan "GIV, she
knows when to pamper herself", were the messages: "Stop
pornography" and "Be polite in advertising!"

And then there is the case of Irex, a type of energy drink,
whose commercials were withdrawn from several TV stations
following numerous public complaints. This case reflects what
many critics see as the overwhelmingly unethical behavior of
companies and the advertising industry.

In the commercial, a woman wearing a miniskirt is seen leaving
a room followed by a man, played by sports presenter Ari
Sudarsono, who looks tired, is sweating and has tousled hair. The
woman smiles and rearranges her disordered skirt. In the outer
office are more women waiting for an interview.

The man then says, "Wah, bakalan lembur nih" (Wow, overtime!).

Then two other women, who appear to be twins, enter the room
followed by the man, who places a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the
handle. And then the slogan is given: "Siap lembur pantang
mundur" (Ready to work overtime, no problem!).

Thousands of complaints were delivered to TV stations and
newspapers, saying that the ad objectified and debased women.

Who is responsible?

The law on consumer protection states that those responsible
for advertisements and their impact on the public are the
companies whose products are being advertised, the advertising
agencies and the media where the ads appear.

Several months ago, TV commercials first appeared for a new
type of instant noodle targeted at women. The commercials for
Cinta-mi, the name of the product, claim the noodles contain
skin-softening Vitamin E.

The question is, does the small amount of Vitamin E in the
noodles have the power to replenish skin?

And earlier this year, ads for a cigarette brand produced by a
leading cigarette manufacturer were banned following a protest
from the industry and the public about a cigarette visibly
displayed on the billboards and in the posters, which is
prohibited.

The manufacturer acknowledged its error and said it spent more
than Rp 1 billion (US$117,000) to remove the offending
advertisements.

But how could such a serious and obvious mistake have been
made in the first place by a company who has been an industry
leader for years?

Neither of the companies involved in these two examples could
be reached for comment.

This year, advertising expenditures are expected to reach Rp
9.72 trillion, a significant increase from the Rp 7.89 trillion
spent on advertising last year and the Rp 5.61 trillion spent in
1999.

"As usual, most of the pie -- about 60 percent -- will go to
TV," Masli said.

Some 29 percent of this advertising money will go to
newspapers, 6 percent to magazines and tabloids, 3 percent to
radio and 2 percent to outdoor advertising.

This increase in advertising expenditure reflects the tougher
competition in the manufacturing sector. With so much money up
for grabs it would not be surprising if we continue to see
violations of the regulations governing advertising.

"Unfortunately, there still hasn't been any particular
incident that would force people in the industry to learn a
lesson and change. Many people are still making use of the
loopholes available to them. They are still involved in creative
theft."