Promotional material for the upcoming Kelly Clarkson
concert in Jakarta. The award-winning US singer says
the concert will go ahead despite the cigarette advertising scandal.
US singer Kelly Clarkson has spoken of being used
US singer Kelly Clarkson has spoken of being used
by an Indonesian cigarette company to advertise smoking
but says she will not back out of her Jakarta concert on
April 29 because of her fans.
Writing on blog.kellyclarkson.com, the artist said she had no idea that PT Djarum brand L.A. Lights was sponsoring her Jakarta concert.
I was not made aware of this and am in no way an advocate or an ambassador for youth smoking. I’m not even a smoker, nor have I ever been.”
She wrote that her only option had appeared to be cancelling the show altogether “in order to stop the sponsorship.”
“However, I can’t justify penalizing my fans for someone else’s oversight. This is a lose-lose situation for me and I am not happy about it but the damage has been done and I refuse to cancel on my fans. I think the hardest part of situations like this is getting personally attacked for something I was completely unaware of and being used as some kind of political pawn.”
Her blog appears to suggest that the concert will proceed with the cigarette advertising.
The advertising has been criticized internationally and domestically and is likely to generate further debate as the concert date approaches.
Muhammidiyah, Indonesia’s second largest Muslim organization, has said cigarette advertising in haram (forbidden) under Shariah law.
