Minister calls for halt to bamboozling ads
Minister calls for halt to bamboozling ads
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Information Harmoko urged
advertising companies yesterday to stop deceiving the public with
their bombastic ads in the mass media.
The minister also called on the public to be wary of
misleading and culturally "improper" advertisements so as not to
fall victim to them.
"Advertising companies should stop making ads which are
incompatible with Indonesian culture," Harmoko was quoted as
saying by Indrawadi Tamin, the ministry's director for the
development of public relations.
The minister made the remarks at a meeting with executives of
the Association of Indonesian Advertising Companies (PPPI), who
were reporting on their plans to conduct a workshop in West Java
next month.
The minister's remarks came amid continuous criticism of some
commercials aired by privately-owned television stations.
Lately, the military academy in the Central Java town of
Magelang has reportedly raised objections to a Brisk hair cream
advertisement, which they say is offensive.
The Brisk TV advertisement shows a girl calling to her clean-
cut boyfriend who has slicked back straight hair, telling him she
objects to his plans for joining the armed forces -- which would
mean he has to have his hair cut.
Yesterday, the Indonesian Consumers Agency (YLKI) demanded
that television stations scrap an advertisement for Ramuan Madura
traditional herbs, and an advertisement for floor tiles, that the
agency says exploits women's sensuality.
The Ramuan Madura advertisement features a housewife who
becomes happy when she discovers that the herbal medicine revives
her sexual vitality and stops her husband from going out to
"meetings".
"Not only does the commercial insult women's dignity but it
also insults men whom it portrays as having their sex lives
dictated by the herbal medicine," YLKI chief Tini Hadad was
quoted by Antara as saying.
Harmoko urged the advertising companies association to
strictly enforce their codes of ethics to improve their image.
Separately, the association's chairman Koes Pudjianto claimed
yesterday that only three percent of the approximately 1,300 ads
produced annually by members breach the association's code of
ethics.
Pudjianto said that in numeric terms, the "improper"
advertisements are quite small but strong public protest makes it
seem as if the organization does nothing to address the
criticism.
"It is the improper ads that the public targets. Nobody cares
to praise the good ones," Pudjianto said.
He claimed most "improper" advertisements were made by
companies that are not members of the association.
Pudjianto argued that people have different judgment about the
same ads. Certain commercials are considered "improper" by some
people but not by others, he said.
PPPI groups 173 advertising companies, which together control
about 80 percent of the local market. (pan)