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Home : News : Alicia Keys Asks Cigarette Maker To Stop Branding

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Alicia Keys Asks Cigarette Maker To Stop Branding

Clara NewsDiscover.com on 03 August, 2008 11:57:51 | 537 times read

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Singer Alicia Keys asks cigarette company to stop branding on her concert in Indonesia. Philip Morris International has pulled down billboards and posters promoting an Alicia Keys concert in Indonesia's capital after the singer protested the cigarette company's sponsorship.

The logo and slogans of A Mild cigarettes, produced by a Philip Morris affiliate, featu -

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red prominently in promotional materials for the concert. In a letter released by her record company, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Keys said she had asked the company to stop the branding. The Washington-based Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids anti-smoking organization initially drew Keys' attention to the company's association with the show. Philip Morris International did not say whether it was demanding its money back, nor would it reveal how much it had paid to sponsor the event.

"I am an unyielding advocate for the well-being of children around the world and do not condone or endorse smoking," she said. "Whether tobacco sponsorship of music events leads to youth smoking is a matter of serious debate," the company said in a statement. "Having considered the facts in this specific instance, we have decided to withdraw all branding associated with this concert."

More than 30 percent of Indonesia's 220 million people smoke, makin - g it the fifth-largest tobacco market in the world, according to the World Health Organization. With health campaigns taking a toll on cigarette sales in the West, tobacco companies are focusing marketing campaigns on developing countries such as Indonesia, behind China, the United States, Russia and Japan.

In the United States, Philip Morris USA and other major tobacco companies are prohibited from sponsorships of concerts, but there are no such regulations in Indonesia. The affiliate, HM Sampoerna, regularly sponsors sports e - vents and pop concerts in Indonesia. Philip Morris was not the sole sponsor of the concert, but the event is billed as an "A Mild Live Production," suggesting it is a major backer.

Clara Luciana, Yogyakarta - (2271 spacer.gif/wikan)