Here’s Why Eraserheads Reunion Concert Could Be in Trouble

By Carlos H. Conde

Now that the government itself has warned Philip Morris International for possible violation of the law for being behind the Eraserheads reunion concert on Aug. 30, I am tempted to gloat and tell those who crucified me and mocked me (in the comment section here and elsewhere and in various blogs and in the Eraserhead mailing list) to go f**k themselves.

But I won’t.

Suffice it to say that, having read the comments and the thread about this new development in the eheads mailing list, I’m happy not because I may have been proven right (sort of) but because at least some eheads fans, it would seem to me, have been illuminated (or have conceded defeat in this debate) and are now singing a different tune about this whole event. They are now faced with the real possibility that the concert might not push through if the Department of Health, which issued the warning on Wednesday that Philip Morris was violating the Tobacco Regulation Act in sponsoring the concert, made good on its promise to sue the company.

And it should really sue the tobacco company. That’s the only way it can uphold this law that is meant to protect people from precisely this kind of deceptive and manipulative behavior by a giant multinational company that sells a toxic product.

Some people, in any case, are saying that the eheads are “innocent victims” in all this, that they probably didn’t know what they were getting themselves into. I think that’s a lot of bullshit. I’m sure the eheads have lawyers — they had to know that a law had been passed as early as 2003 and that under this law, all forms of mass media advertising and sponsorship by tobacco companies are illegal effective July 1, 2008. They had to know because Ely Buendia and company refused to divulge the name of the sponsors after rumors circulated on the Internet. There is obviously a nondisclosure agreement at work, but the eheads had to know.

Even if the Eraserheads did not know because Philip Morris did not tell them about the law, then that is bad faith. And if I’m not mistaken, a contract is considered void if the other party signed it in bad faith.

Knowing Philip Morris, it will not back down. It will try to push through with the concert if only to challenge the Tobacco Regulation Act and hopefully set a precedent that it can use for future promotional events. According to anti-tobacco advocates that I spoke with last week, this case is unprecedented.

Which brings me to another point: Philip Morris is exploiting the Internet, using it to explore its vast potential for marketing its deadly product. Its so-called “Red List,” where you sign up online in order to get admitted to the events the company sponsors, should be investigated by the government and, if needed, the law should be fine-tuned to deal with promotional strategies like this. As far as Dr. Maricar Limpin, executive director of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP), is concerned, the “Red List” is a veritable death trap.

The question now is: Can this concert push through even without Philip Morris?

If the eheads can claim bad faith on the part of Philip Morris, the band can use that as a leverage to perhaps ask the tobacco company to release them from the contract. Moreover, since the eheads entered into a contract that violates the law, that contract should also be considered void. (Hat tip to an eheads fan, who really enjoyed bludgeoning me online for my criticism of Philip Morris’s involvement in the concert, for this point. Ah, irony, sweet, sweet irony…)

Will other companies step up to the plate and take over from Philip Morris? With the way this concert has generated so much buzz, I think a lot of companies would. (According to one buzz I read in a forum, other companies actually wanted to take part in the concert but Philip Morris wouldn’t let them. If true, and if Philip Morris is taken out of the picture, then these other companies should be happy with the way things are turning out.)

But that can only happen if the eheads themselves grow some backbone and get out of the deal with Philip Morris. Pressure from the fans, many of whom have said that they don’t care whether it’s a tobacco company sponsoring the concert, might also help. If you are a fan, start blogging about this and ask Philip Morris to back out. You can launch an online petition, the better to pressure Philip Morris out of this.

You can print on your T-shirt the graphic designs created by the anti-tobacco advocates and express your displeasure.

The point is to spread the word: REUNION CONCERT, YES! TOBACCO SPONSOR, NO!

Many commented here that they don’t really care about Philip Morris — all they want, they said, is the music of the Eraserheads. (”It’s all about the music.”) If you really mean that, then do something. Because if you don’t, the band that you are dying to see one more time might not be there on Aug. 30.

As I have repeatedly stated here, I have no problem with the reunion concert itself. My beef was against a company that was taking advantage of a band’s enormous popularity to circumvent the law. Too bad I had to ruffle some feathers but I thought that was the only way to get my point across, considering the almost hysterical excitement felt by many fans at the mere idea of an Eraserheads reunion concert. (Carlos H. Conde/pinoypress.net)