Viral Indonesian Parliament Member Criticizes Collaboration Between Garuda Indonesia and Pokemon

Kapanlagi.com - One of the largest airlines in Indonesia, Garuda, is making waves in 2024 by partnering with The Pokemon Company. As a result of this collaboration, several Garuda planes are now designed with images of Pikachu wearing batik clothing.

The Garuda Indonesia plane featuring the Pokemon livery, or 'Pikachu Jet GA-1', has officially been flying on domestic and international routes since the beginning of 2024. Meanwhile, the second collaboration between Garuda Indonesia and Pokemon, or Pikachu Jet GA-2, was launched in November 2024.

Interestingly, Garuda's decision has drawn sharp criticism from Indonesian parliament members. A viral video on social media shows one of the members of the Indonesian Parliament Commission VII from the National Mandate Party (FPAN), Arizal Tom Liwafa, expressing his criticism.

"Yesterday I had a discussion with the leadership. So what is concerning is how our proud airline, Garuda, is collaborating with Pokemon. This needs to be seriously considered," said Tomli, who was attending a working meeting with the Minister of Tourism in the video.

1. Mention Pokemon as Japanese MSMEs

Furthermore, Tomli stated that this collaboration is more beneficial for Pokemon, which he referred to as Japanese MSMEs. In fact, according to him, there are many tourist spots in Indonesia that could be highlighted as the main designs on Garuda's planes.

"This is a foreign product, Japanese MSME, so what does that mean? We have so many tourist regions; there's Labuan Bajo, Bali, Prambanan Temple, Borobudur Temple. How can it be that Pokemon is the one stuck there? Pokemon with batik too, this is quite sad in my opinion," emphasized Tomli.

2. Prioritize Local IP

Collaboration between Garuda Indonesia and Pokemon (Photo Credit: X/ChangiAirport)

In addition, Tomli also urged the Ministry of Tourism to evaluate similar policies in the future to be more aligned with the efforts to develop national tourist destinations.

"We believe that in the future, collaborations with Indonesia's pride airline will be able to engage with tourism or local intellectual property," added Tomli.

The local intellectual property referred to by Tomli here pertains to iconic Indonesian figures such as Gatot Kaca, Gundala, Si Unyil, and the like.

3. Response from Garuda Indonesia: Global Promotion Strategy

Collaboration between Garuda Indonesia and Pokemon (Photo Credit: X/ChangiAirport)

Previously, Irfan Setiaputra, the President Director of Garuda Indonesia, explained that the purpose of collaborating with The Pokemon Company is to enhance Indonesia's tourism appeal in the international market. The design of the Pikachu Jet GA-2 was launched to attract the attention of foreign tourists who may not yet be familiar with destinations like Bali and other tourist spots in Indonesia.

"We want to have a livery design on a large aircraft so it can fly internationally, to attract tourists to Indonesia using that plane. Maybe they don’t know about Bali and other places, but then they fly on it and get to know Bali," said Irfan.

Which one do KLovers agree with more? Write your comment!

(kpl/gtr)