In Indonesia, ad regulations are created to be violated

By Emma Cameron

JAKARTA (JP): The brother and sister bicker. The brother tells his sister she can't be an astronaut because astronauts can't eat chocolate. But the mother comes in with her calming influence and saves the day, telling the boy he can be an astronaut and eat chocolate -- as long as he brushes with toothpaste of the advertised brandname he won't have bad teeth.

It's a cute advertisement and one that's famous in Indonesia. However, it's an advertisement that claims something that is inaccurate; no toothpaste can prevent cavities.

It is perhaps unfair to single out this one advertisement when unethical advertising is so prevalent in Indonesia. According to the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) it is everywhere and the toothpaste advertisement is simply one of the most prominent of those they are fighting to change -- weight reduction programs, cosmetics, medicines, soaps, it's hard to name an area that doesn't resort to stretching the truth into fiction.

Supposedly, this type of advertising was to have been ruled out this year with the introduction of the Consumer Protection Act on April 20, 1999. However, the reality has been the same lobbying that has occurred for the past 20 years. Although the law does not become fully operational until a year after its enactment, those expecting to find protection from the world of advertising after that date will be sorely disappointed.

Vice Chairperson of YLKI, Agus Pambagio believes the advertising industry will remain corrupt until the money politics of Indonesian business stops. "Money is a second god in this world, it can be used to avoid and break the law," he said.

With no law enforcement in place YLKI continues to raise awareness through the media. "It's better to use public pressure rather than the law because it's more effective. If no one wants to buy your product it's the end of the world. With the law you need a year to nail them down," Agus said.

However many Indonesians simply accept that advertising is about trying to sell a product, even if that means their children will be mislead.

Angelina is a 32-year-old feedmill worker with one daughter and believes it is her job as a parent to protect her child from misleading advertisements rather than the role of advertising companies or television stations.

"Children are like a book. They always express what they think or what they want. If they think they can eat as much chocolate as they want if they use Pepsodent, they generally say that to their parents. Of course, their parents have to explain the truth to them," she said.

PT Unilever (producers of Pepsodent) refused to issue a statement on the issue.

The laws currently in place are also generally ignored leaving an industry where anything goes as long as you can get away with it. According to Indonesian law, overseas advertisements cannot be shown on Indonesian television.

Nico Lakahena, an advertising accounts supervisor at SCTV said the law was originally put in place with good intentions, "If I'm not mistaken, it's to encourage local production houses to improve their standards."

However, Indonesia still does not have the technology to compete at an international level and overseas companies now know that to air their advertisement in Indonesia they simply have to throw money at the problem.

"If an ad is made within Indonesia it is Rp 500,000 for a permit, if it's foreign made it's Rp 2.5 million to Rp 3 million. When the regulations first came out about three years ago it was up to Rp 10 million for a 15-second advertisement," Nico said.

However, it's not only the obvious advertising on television that is abused but the more insidious forms of school promotions that specifically target children.

Many schools in Jakarta get free milk for their pupils. What seems to be an innocent program of free milk to schools is a carefully orchestrated advertising scheme. The targeted schools are usually private ones in wealthy areas where the nutrition of the children is not an issue, leaving aside the fact that most companies provide flavored milk which is not healthy.

Pambagio likened the scheme to biogenetic engineering where farmers are given a seed which then makes them dependent on the company who gave them the seed. "You give kids milk, they like it and ask their parents 'mum, dad, can we have this milk?'," he said.

The Don Bosco Primary School, in the East Jakarta area of Pulo Mas is one school which milk programs have visited. Out of ten Grade five and six children at the school, four of them asked their parents to buy their favorite milk for them.

Pambagio believes programs like these need to be regulated.

"We would prefer such programs to be done through the government with a bidding process and some criteria," he said.

At the moment, despite the checks and balances available no one seems willing to take responsibility for unethical advertising.

YLKI believes the media should screen their advertisements while television stations continue to rely on the government to accept or reject ads.

Meanwhile, according to Pambagio, advertisers hide behind the excuse of creativity.

"The problem with advertising associations is they're always talking about creativity, we're talking about ethics."