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The
Great Boyzone Cigarette Controversy
An
excerpt by BP Fallon from the book boyzone go east!
Mikey
Graham and sign |
The
offending Mild pack |
Ronan
Keating and BP |
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Jakarta,
Indonesia, Monday September 8th 1997
It ended like any Boyzone press conference. Except at the end Phil,
who had flown out from England to take some pictures for Boyzone and
their fan magazine, handed the band a packet of Mild cigarettes. The
cigarette packets were printed with Boyzone's name on them, with the
Boyzone logo, with Boyzone's photographs, with the titles of Boyzone
hits A Different Beat' and Words and 'A Picture of You'.
"These were being handed out to the journalists and the photographers,"
Phil announces.
The band are freaked, even the guys who smoke ciggies, truly disturbed
at the idea of handing out cigarettes with Boyzone's image endorsing
them. Mark Plunkett hides the packets from you, won't let you see them.
He knows you'll write about it.
"If they find out about this back home and in England, we're in trouble,"
says Keith.
Turns out that Mild are one of the sponsors for the Indonesian leg of
the tour. They're planning to hand out the cigarettes at the gig, hand
them out to the youngsters who have come to see Boyzone. "In the contract,
it says that we have to be informed of who the sponsors are - but we
weren't," says Mark.
The scheme by Mild to feed the young Boyzone audience with Boyzone cigarettes
is banged on the head by Mark on behalf of the band, who has to fight
for his territory. We're told that the cigarettes would be destroyed
but it's a hollow victory. The next night at Bengkel Night Park in Jakarta,
where Boyzone are forced to leave the stage for some ten minutes while
the crush in the audience is sorted out, the venue is literally dripping
in Mild promotional material, Mild promotional material that says "Mild
Live: Ronan, Steven, Shane, Keith and Mikey. Let's Make A Different
Beat."
To make matters worse, you've turned up in an unsubtle t-shirt bearing
the message "CIGARETTES KILL. DON'T GIVE MILD TO THE CHILD". In the
dressing room before the show, Ronan is saying "What should we do? What
can we do?" and you're suggesting "Go on stage and rip up the cigarettes
in front of everybody and say 'Look, this has nothing to do with us,
we don't support it."
"I have to think about it" says Ronan, upset.
Boyzone do nothing.
Two concerts away, in Bali, in a gorgeous amphitheatre adorned by strange
magnetising figures of gods and deities and swirling patterns, before
the soundcheck lain Whitehead discovers a large lit up Mild Cigarettes
packet five foot high at each side of the stage. He asks for it to be
moved. Nothing happens.
He mentions that maybe these cigarette displays are costly, that maybe
they might get broken if they aren't taken away immediately. The glowing
cigarette packets disappear.
After Jakarta. Boyzone play in Surabaya in the Go Skate Building. As
Boyzone come off stage before the encore, dripping, Mark is standing
there, his arms overflowing with packets of Boyzone cigarettes. "They
were handing these out in the audience," Mark says.
Boyzone go back on stage and rip up the cigarettes in front of the audience
and say "Look, this has nothing to do with us. We don't support it."
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