CLARKSON FUMING OVER CIGARETTE FIRM SPONSORSHIP
KELLY CLARKSON is fuming her appearance in billboard ads for cigarette co mpany Diarum has marred her upcoming show in Indonesia - because she neve r 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. Lig hts brand logo all over posters advertising the show.
The American Idol winner was slammed by Matt Myers, the president of th e Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, for appearing in the ads.
He said, "If Kelly Clarkson goes ahead with the concert, she is by choi ce 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 t hat 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 m y 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 ev er 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 fan s 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 canc el 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 som e kind of political pawn."
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