The murder trial of Jessica Wongso, who stands accused of murdering Wayan Mirna Salihin with cyanide slipped into a cup of Vietnamese coffee at a restaurant in January, continues to hold the attention of the Indonesian media and public. As such, there have been more than a few who have attempted to exploit the case for their own commercial gain. A few weeks ago, a Surabaya businessman began selling “Jessica” branded coffee over the internet but was forced to stop and apologize after public outcry.
That incident apparently did not discourage Vietnamese restaurant chain MonViet from making an advertisement which also references the infamous murder case.
This photo was taken Friday in front of the MonViet outlet in Setiabudi One in Kuningan, South Jakarta, by journalist Erin Cook.
While this is, relatively speaking, not as bad as the Jessica brand coffee (in that it doesn’t actually use the image of anybody involved in the murder trial), we’d still have to say that this advertisement is in pretty bad taste. It’s even more disappointing because MonViet is generally considered one of the better Vietnamese restaurant chains in Jakarta.
Obviously companies create controversial advertisements like this to get attention, and in that they have succeeded. But we don’t think this is the kind of attention an otherwise respectable company should be seeking.
