Too many cigarette ads
Too many cigarette ads
As a foreigner who has spent a total of more than six months
in Indonesia I feel the need to comment on the overwhelming
presence of cigarette advertisements in this country. There seems
to be no laws prohibiting the promotion of cigarettes as I am
accustomed to in my country, Canada. The television
advertisements are particularly sickening for me.
Generally, these ads fall into two groups. There is one type
of ad which promotes cigarettes in a natural context. These ads
imply that smoking cigarettes can somehow be equated with
recreation in the wilderness.
To me, this is a laughable comparison. Undoubtedly, recreation
can be better enjoyed when your lungs are not full of cigarette
smoke and you can acutely appreciate the pure wilderness. It is
also a scientific fact that smoking decreases one's ability to
perform physical activity. So then, those people who are riding
horses and rafting the river would be better off leaving their
cigarettes at home if they really want to make the most of their
outdoor experience.
The second type of ad is the type which has handsome men and
beautiful women to promote the idea that cigarettes enhance
romance. Wherever this idea came from is beyond my comprehension.
Since when does a person whose breath stinks, whose teeth and
hands are yellow, and whose clothes reek of smoke become someone
who is sexually attractive?
Unfortunately, despite the fact that these ads seem
ridiculous, it seems as though they are effective in getting
Indonesians to buy cigarettes. The percentage of men who smoke
here is quite high. It is my hope that the Indonesian government
will realize that the social costs of smoking far outweigh any
revenues that the industry may bring to this country.
When all the lifetime smokers start to become sick with cancer
and other lung-related illnesses, it is not only the individual
that will suffer. Society as a whole has to pay for this. It is
time the government started to implement some laws that slow the
promotion of cigarettes in this country.
SHANE RULJANCICH
Castlegar, Canada