Clarkson Fuming Over Cigarette Firm Sponsorship
By WENNThursday, April 22, 2010
KELLY CLARKSON is fuming her appearance in billboard ads for cigarette company Diarum has marred her upcoming show in Indonesia - because she never consented to the promos.
The tobacco firm’s bosses are sponsoring the Since U Been Gone hitmaker’s 29 April (10) concert in Jakarta - and they’ve splashed their L.A. Lights brand logo all over posters advertising the show.
The American Idol winner was slammed by Matt Myers, the president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, for appearing in the ads.
He said, “If Kelly Clarkson goes ahead with the concert, she is by choice being a spokesman for the tobacco industry and helping them to market to children.”
But Clarkson is disgusted at the suggestion she should cancel her show to make a stand - because she refuses to disappoint her loyal fans.
In a post on her blog, she writes, “My morning began with finding out that I am all over billboards, TV ads, and other media formats alongside a tobacco company who unbeknownst to me is sponsoring my Jakarta date on my current tour. 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.
“Unfortunately, my only option at this point was to cancel the show in order to stop the sponsorship. However, I can’t justify penalising 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.”
