Pandaya – There is something strange in the latest raucous, uninspiring commercials bombarding our brains on local TV channels: A host of advertisements for commercial products starring a Cabinet minister, the House speaker or a regional official.
Just like any other ambassadors for any commercial products, the state bureaucrats extol the virtue of the products they promote. It looks like they have forgotten they are public officials paid to serve the public and to shun side jobs – be it for money or for free – because it diminishes their status.
"Take Tolak Angin. It's a good Indonesian product that everybody loves," says State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan, promoting the anti-bloating herbal medicine in a TV ad made with members of boy band Padi in the Netherlands to convince the public the product is world class.
Dahlan, an ex-journalist who loves to portray himself as a campaigner for the consumption of local products, has reportedly argued he did the ad for free after the drug maker, Sido Muncul, agreed to use indigenous herbs as its raw materials.
Movie-actor turned politician Deddy Mizwar retained his status as one of the most popular commercial actors even after he was elected deputy governor of West Java. On TV, he appears to promote a "yummy and nutritious" sausage, a sarong brand he asserts can make its Muslim wearers "more intent in their prayers", and a bank he swears offers "top service".
Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan, an entrepreneur before he entered politics, once appeared for Astra International, praising the country's largest auto seller as one of the biggest tax payers and its success in penetrating the world market.
House Speaker Mazuki Alie is also a commercial star. The man, who is often embroiled in controversy, appeals to the citizens to "love Indonesian products", a tag-line he shouts loud and clear as he promotes household appliances made by Maspion along with company owner Alim Markus and veteran crooner Titiek Puspa.
Just to refresh your memory, Marzuki has just reemerged after a bruising controversy that saw him implicated in a gold investment scam involving a Malaysian company called PT Global Traders Indonesia Syariah (GTIS). PT GTIS used him to promote the business that had been endorsed by the powerful Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI).
The gold investment business lost its shine when GTIS owner Michael Ong disappeared after raking in billions of rupiah from Indonesian investors. Marzuki denied having a hand in the scam and there has been no news that police have investigated it.
Other state officials have also been involved in commercials, albeit in a more subtle way. Former Army chief of staff Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo, for example, "promoted" energy drink Kuku Bima Energy in an Army corporate social responsibility event held in cooperation with the company.
Joko "Jokowi" Widodo appeared in the advertisement for Esemka, an automotive venture developed by local vocational high school students while he was mayor of Surakarta. The car promotion catapulted his reputation onto the national political scene and helped him win the Jakarta gubernatorial seat last year.
State officials appearing in commercials have raised serious questions about the political ethics they are supposed to uphold, although legally they breach no laws because of a lack of legislation addressing the issue.
They publicly favor certain commercial products and induce the public to buy them. They "sell" their political leverage as public officials to help the capitalist make money. What about their oath to serve citizens equally regardless of their social status?
Dahlan's "I did it for free" excuse is disingenuous because money is not the only benefit that state officials can receive from the companies they endorse.
In the future, actors may have to compete with government officials for a share of the advertising market and it could be unfair competition because the politicians wield both power and good looks, while actors rely merely on good looks.
Just imagine in this paternalistic Indonesia as more and more public officials vie for a slot in the burgeoning TV advertising sector following the footsteps of their superiors and role models! It is also reasonable to suspect the higher the officials' standing, the more they can earn from this moonlighting.
By the way, former beauty queen Angelina Sondakh also appeared in an anticorruption ad for her Democratic Party along with such top party figures as Anas Urbaningrum. And, ehrmm [...] last year she was convicted of graft and sentenced to four years behind bars. Already a butt of jokes, the Democratic Party had to lose Anas the anticorruption crusader as well after he was named a graft suspect and will soon face the music.
So, are you buying the politicians' words?