Dessy Sagita – Five-year-old Bayu was watching a movie on television. During the ad break, a barrage of cigarette ads streamed across the screen. Bayu was able to recognize the brand of each cigarette just by watching the commercials. "They were funny. Those men were really funny and smart," he said.

Bayu is also regulary exposed to cigarette branding while watching badminton on TV with his father, or while enjoying telecasts of music concerts. He has also seen ads created by a cigarette company that blatantly say "Don't Quit" on their billboards, an advertising move it would be hard to mistake as having any other motive than to discourage smokers from kicking the habit.

World No Tobacco Day is celebrated worldwide today. According to the World Health Organization, three of every four Indonesian children between the ages of 13 and 15 are exposed to cigarette ads on billboards and pro-tobacco messages at sporting events.

"In Indonesia, advertising, promotion and sponsorship went crazy after we passed the 2009 Health Law labeling tobacco an addictive substance," says Kartono Muhammad, the head of the Tobacco Control Support Center at the Indonesian Health Experts Association (IAKMI). "The tobacco industry has since been fighting fiercely to annul the regulation."

According to data from research company Nielsen, Indonesian tobacco companies spent Rp 1.98 trillion ($202 million) in 2010 on cigarette advertisements.

"Our children first learn about cigarettes from ads, because even though we have agreed that tobacco is an addictive substance, we have neglected to completely ban tobacco advertising," Kartono says.

"It's a double standard that we have banned alcohol advertising because alcohol is considered an addictive substance, but we allow advertising for cigarettes, which are also addictive. What makes cigarettes so special?"

Broadcast ban

"We are fighting for a total ban on cigarette ads, and to be honest it's a very hard fight," says Ezki Suyanto, the deputy chairwoman of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI).

Under the 2002 Broadcasting Law, cigarette ads on television may only be aired after 9:30 p.m. However, Ezki says that cigarette companies use many other methods to promote their products before then.

"In the afternoon, while children are still watching TV, you can see cigarette logos diplayed at music and sporting events, which is a form of advertising," she says.

She added that the KPI recently reprimanded a TV station that had aired a quiz sponsored by a cigarette company during the daytime. "They argued they didn't air any ads, but merely displayed the logo in the background. I said that even if it had just been the company colors without the logo, the KPI still classified it as an ad."

Ezki notes that Indonesia is the only country in the Southeast Asian region that still allows cigarette ads to be aired on TV. "In our country, after 9 p.m. the TV stations still bombard their viewers with cigarette ads, with practically no other ads being aired," she says.

She adds the KPI has been lobbying for new regulations to challenge the current broadcasting regulations. "What we want is a total ban, but the resistence is tremendous," she says, adding that the KPI has been heavily criticized by television stations and legislators.

"It's very hard to convince legislators, but we stand firm. Television and radio stations have direct access to the public, and so they have a responsibility not to promote dangerous substances," Ezki says.

Cool factor

Ninety-three percent of Indonesian children are exposed to cigarette ads on television, while 50 percent regularly see cigarette ads on outdoor billboards and banners, according to a survey conducted by the National Commission on Children Protection (Komnas Anak).

Tjandra Yoga Aditama, the Indonesian Health Ministry's director general for disease control and environmental health, says the ads are designed to give impresionable youths the impression that smokers is "cool and confident."

"While we believe that most children start smoking because of peer pressure, the process actually starts long before that, because our children are constantly exposed to cigarette ads. It's just a matter of time before they take up smoking," he says.

The WHO says that although most countries have tobacco control laws, a ban on advertising of tobacco products needs to be enforced.

"Statistics show that banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce tobacco demand," says Samlee Plianbangchang, the WHO's regional director.

"A comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship could cut consumption by an average of about 7 percent, with some countries experiencing a decline in consumption of up to 16 percent."

The Global Adults Tobacco Survey 2011, released in 2012, ranks Indonesia second after China for the number of smokers. The survey found that 67.4 percent of men and 4.5 percent of women in Indonesia were active smokers.

Tighter regulation

In January this year, Indonesia finally passed a long-awaited tobacco control regulation that imposes certain restrictions on cigarette advertising.

One of the restrictions will bar companies from portraying children, teenagers or pregnant women in their ads. The ads are also prohibited from glamorizing smoking or encourage people to take up the habit.

The regulation will require cigarette ads on television to devote 10 percent of their running time to written warnings with a pictorial warning. Ads on the radio would have to devote 10 percent of their duration to verbal warnings, while still-image ads would be required to devote 10 percent of their area for a warning.

The regulation also stipulates specific prohibitions for cigarette ads in print media. One of them is that these ads may never be published on the front or back cover of a print publication or near ads for food and drink products. Cigarette companies are also barred from taking out a full-page ad in any print publication.

Restrictions on outdoor media advertising include a prohibition on tobacco ads being displayed in smoke-free zones or along main roads. The restrictions, however, will not apply to small-scale tobacco companies, defined as those that produce fewer than 24 million cigarettes a year.

"A partial ban is even more dangerous than no limitation at all," says Lisda Sundari from Lentera Anak Indonesia, a non-government organization focusing on advocating children. "It's a manifestation of half-hearted protection for our children."

Lisda cites the case of Padang Panjang district in West Sumatra, which imposed a total ban on outdoor cigarette ads and saw a sharp increase in revenue from outdoor billboards within six months of the ban.

"So when people claim that a total ban on cigarette ads will make them lose a lot of money and that many sports or music events will have to be canceled, they're just being lazy, becaue there are so many other sponsors willing to step in," she says.

"What really concerns me is that cigarette companies have started using social media to promote their products, obviously aiming for young customers."

While the national regulation was passed in January, cigarette companies still have 12 months to comply with the rules, and 18 months to start printing pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages.

"It's been almost five months since the regulation was issued, but so far nothing has changed," says Arist Merdeka Sirait, the Komnas Anak chairman. "Even worse, it seems like cigarette companies are using this opportunity to come up with more ads, sponsorship and promotion before they run out of time."

Lisda says a total ban is the cheapest and the easiest way to put the brakes on the growing number of first-time smokers, many of whom are children. "By banning ads, promotion and sponsorship we are trying to build the idea that cigarettes aren't acceptable," she says.