The new rules - the same in principle to those announced by the Indonesian Government last week — will resurrect the ‘Made in Malaysia’ (MIM) dictum, which requires that 80 per cent of an ad’s production costs should be spent in Malaysia.
MIM was introduced in the 1980s to protect local production companies and acting talent from foreign competition. Although details of the new rules are unclear, as is how they will be enforced, the 80 per cent figure will certainly rise, said Malaysian 4As president Vincent Lee.
“The proliferation of foreign commercials has been tremendous. The number of commercials produced in Malaysia has dropped from 400 a year to around 100 a year over the past decade,” said Lee.
Malaysian agencies have reacted positively to the news. However, in Indonesia, a decree issued by the Ministry of Communication and Information (MCI) on 1 May for ads to be locally produced - without consulting the industry - has met with strong criticism. “We don’t have the right level of local talent,” said Henry Saputra, chairman of Publicis Metro and board member of the local 4As (PPPI). “We’ll get to a point where the quality of TV commercials will suffer hugely.”
According to Saputra, most agencies look to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia for higher quality production and post-production talent. “This law is very counter-productive,” he said.
The MCI has also demanded a 1:3 ratio of foreign to local talent used in agencies. The Minister of Communication and Information, Sofyan Djalil, told reporters: “The clause is meant to guarantee the transfer of knowledge from foreigners to locals.”
The decree does offer some exceptions, however. Campaigns with global icons, such as the Caucasian cowboy used in Marlboro cigarette ads, are safe. But the face of football star Cristiano Ronaldo on ads for Extra Joss, a local energy drink, must go. Although the PPPI has been lobbying the MCI to relax the laws, sources are not optimistic. “If (the Ministry) was interested in our opinion, it would have asked us before issuing the decree, not after,” said one.
Additional reporting by Robin Hicks
