The elusive ethics of Indonesian advertising

The elusive ethics of Indonesian advertising

By T. Sima Gunawan

JAKARTA (JP): A well-dressed man is dancing in a pub with
several girls when his handphone rings.

His wife is calling from home.

"Oh, I am in the middle of a meeting," he lies.

It is not a movie scene but a TV commercial for Motorola
handphones. The advertiser was obviously trying to portray the
lifestyle of a successful young executive who carried a handphone
wherever he went. He looked happy and trendy and was surrounded
by beautiful women. Instead of depicting him as a good husband,
however, the advertiser pictured him as a liar.

It is only one of what many Indonesians consider inappropriate
commercials. The ads are found on TV and the radio as well as in
print media and on billboards.

A TV commercial for Baygon mosquito coils has a popular artist
boasting that the product "smells good". This is obviously
misleading as the fumes from the burning mosquito coils is
harmful to people's health.

A man is seen on TV sawing an iron bar without safety goggles,
sparking a strong public criticism.

Yet another controversial Indonesian TV commercial stars rock
singer Harry Mukti. He is looking for a television with "metal"
sound and a sharp picture. The shop attendant recommends Soundmax
from Goldstar, saying that "the sound is metal but the price is
kroncong (a traditional music of Jakarta)."

The ad drew criticism from a musician, who said that the
statement is an insult to kroncong as it implies that kroncong is
cheap. The advertiser argued that the company was trying to tell
the audience that the price was affordable or "soft" like
kroncong music. Goldstar agreed to remove the word kroncong and
changed the statement to "the sound is metal and the price is
good."

Children

Other commercials are regarded unethical because they exploit
children. A commercial featuring a little boy expressing his
opinion about a Toyota Kijang minivan was recently axed for being
unethical.

"It is okay to expose children as members of the family, but
it is inappropriate to exploit children's ignorance to advertise
products," Indra Abidin, chairman of the honorary council of the
Association of Indonesian Advertising Agencies, said.

The Institute for the Guidance and Protection of Consumers,
which has severely blasted advertising agencies for exploiting
children, earlier this year conducted a survey on the impact of
TV commercials on Indonesian children.

The Semarang-based institute talked to 103 children of between
5 and 15 years old. The survey found that 49.5 percent of the
respondents often asked their parents to buy the products they
saw on TV, especially if the ad starred their favorite artist.
The children only wanted the product because they adored the
artists who were in the ads, not because the items advertised had
any real use. The children were trapped in an irrational
consumptive pattern.

"Children are lured into demanding things they don't need,"
Eri Saptoputratmo, public relations officer of the institute,
told The Jakarta Post recently.

Thirty-four percent of the respondents said they often found
the products didn't meet their expectations.

"In general, the commercials tend to give too much hope to
consumers," Eri said.

Beauty cream ads are classic examples. One company claims that
the product can "whiten" the skin, while another boasts that its
anti-aging product can make the skin remain smooth.

Attitude

Making an excellent ad takes creativity, taste, maturity and
knowledge.

"Advertisements are more than the combination of a picture and
some words," Indra Abidin, said in an interview with the Post.

An advertisement is created to change people's attitude so
they are attracted to a product, he added.

Creating an informative, communicative and educative ad is
difficult. A knowledge of advertising ethics and societal values
is essential, but there are other things which are equally
important. Advertising practitioners need to know the psychology
of the society and the demography, Abidin said.

Abidin observed that some advertising agencies produce
misleading commercials because of negligence or because they lack
basic knowledge. But others break the code of ethics in order to
do things the easy way.

Advertising agencies make every effort to steal the consumer's
heart through the commercials. That is not surprising because
advertisements play a great role in generating the sales of the
products, he said.

Swa magazine reported last month that the sales of a certain
product of PT Jamu Jago traditional herb company increased by 500
percent in the first six months after the product was advertised
on TV.

Indonesia's steady economic growth and the presence of five
private TV stations has contributed a lot to the development of
TV commercials and advertising in general. The spending on TV
commercials in 1994 was Rp 1,062 billion, while in 1995 it is
projected to reach Rp 1,503 billion, according to last month's
Swa magazine.

The demand for creative copy writers and artists is rising.
Unfortunately, the supply is limited in Indonesia so companies
must hire foreigners. Foreign advertising companies of course
make the best of the lack of talent and skill to expand their
businesses.

Abidin observed that some foreign ad companies violate the
code of ethics to rake in bigger profits more easily. They write
their commercials based on their own taste without seriously
considering local values.

"But of course there are some foreign advertising companies
which are good," he added.

Fraudulence

Although a number of unethical and misleading TV commercials
have been withdrawn following public protests, many others are
still being aired. Consumers suffer because of such ads, but
there isn't much they can do because of their weak legal
position. Indonesian law does not protect consumers.

The production of misleading commercials can be categorized as
fraud, yet no one has been tried for an advertisement.

Late in 1980s, a lawyer sued Bentoel cigarette producer for
the use of the brand-name Bentoel Remaja (Youth of Bentoel) and
for their commercial featuring smoking teenagers. The lawyer,
R.O. Tambunan, said he filed the lawsuit on behalf of the public.
The Central Jakarta District Court turned down the suit,
insisting the lawyer didn't have any legal right to represent the
public.

An appropriate legal instrument is essential to protect
consumers. But more important is the ad companies willingness to
comply to the rules and the government's determination to act
against violators, said Abidin.

"One of the biggest problems that we have is the inconsistency
in the implementation of the rules," Abidin pointed out.

He cited as an example that despite the government's ban on
commercials made overseas, many foreign ads are in circulation.

The film censorship council and TV stations should be more
careful. The council has the authority to screen both films and
TV commercials, but sometimes the inappropriate TV ads had not
been looked at. Indonesian TV stations, which generate huge sums
of money from ads, should start taking their consumers into
consideration.