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)