P

opular American rock band Maroon 5 says that its local promoter rejects further tobacco company sponsorship for its upcoming concert in Jakarta in response to a letter from the National Commission for Child Protection.

After receiving the letter dated Jan. 20, which urged the band to reject tobacco sponsorship of the concert and refuse any connection with the tobacco industry in their future concerts in Indonesia, Maroon 5, scheduled to perform on April 27, notified promoter Java Musikindo, owned by Adrie Subono, to cancel sponsorship of their concert by Surya PROfessional Mild, a Gudang Garam cigarette brand.

Java Musikindo stated that it would cease all tobacco-related advertising immediately and apologized for any negative publicity the issue had caused Maroon 5.

“I am not certain the promoter was sincere because it did not take down billboards until after the tickets had sold out,” said Arist Merdeka Sirait, National Commission for Child Protection chairman. The promoter was advertising the concert since last December.

Arist wants Maroon 5 to make a statement to the youth of Indonesia that cigarettes are dangerous. He questioned why the band would accept tobacco company sponsorship in Indonesia, when it did not use it in its own country, and were not being sponsored by cigarette producers for their performances in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. He said the Surya PROfessional Mild brand was deliberately trying to exploit the popularity of the California-based band to sell cigarettes.

Arist told The Jakarta Post that he did not agree with the promotional sponsorship because many youngsters were fans of the band and could be influenced to smoke if they thought their idols approved of it. “Why can’t Java Musikindo find other sponsorship, while other promoters have no problems with that?” Arist said Tuesday at a press conference held at the office of the National Commission for Child
Protection.

Previous concerts by popular foreign performers have been presented without cigarette-company sponsorship. Velvet Production, the promoter for the Kenny G concert in Jakarta on Oct. 26, 2010, and Berlian Entertainment, which handled the Janet Jackson concert on Feb. 9, 2011, were both able to put on shows without the support of tobacco companies.

“We avoid sponsorship from tobacco companies because our mission is to look for a better future. We even have a campaign called the ‘No cigarette music series’,” said Triadi Noor, Velvet Production marketing director. He acknowledged, however, that promotion was easier with the backing of cigarette companies because they had ample advertising budgets.

Alex Papilaya, chairman of the Tobacco Control Support Center, expressed hope that all famous Indonesian bands, such as Nidji or Slank, would denounce sponsorship from tobacco companies for any music or sporting events. “Especially Slank, because they are the anti-drug icons among youngsters,” added Alex.

However, Ridho, of Slank, had a different opinion. “The tobacco industry has the biggest budget and who can guarantee that youngsters will not smoke even without tobacco company sponsorship of events?”

Ridho told the Post that the responsibility of the tobacco industry ended with placing warnings on billboards or packages; the rest depended on the consumers.

Association of Indonesian Tobacco Companies chairman Muhaimin Mofti said cigarette advertising depended on the event type. “If the event is open to all ages, it is better if sponsorship is not from the tobacco industry.

But if the event is restricted to adults only, it is fine if sponsorship comes from the tobacco industry.”