AUSSIE rock bands Wolfmother and The Vines have come under fire for agreeing to play a Jakarta music festival sponsored by a major Indonesian tobacco company.
Both bands announced this week they would perform at next month's Java Rockin'Land festival, set to be one of the biggest music events of the year in the Indonesian capital.
A Wolfmother fan website said the band had decided to withdraw from the festival line-up, citing a statement from lead singer Andrew Stockdale. But the band's agent told the ABC the band's performance would go ahead.
Anti-smoking campaigners say if the bands do perform they will effectively be promoting its major sponsor, Indonesian cigarette maker Gudang Garam.
Sydney Medical School's director of research Simon Chapman has urged the bands to reconsider.
"If the artists put their foot down, the event organisers will get rid of the tobacco sponsorship,'' Mr Chapman said.
Indonesia has extremely lax tobacco laws and is one of only a handful of countries that refuse to sign up to the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Local and transnational tobacco companies often sponsor concerts and sporting events, where they hand out free samples. Cigarette advertising campaigns are often aimed squarely at teenagers.
American singer Kelly Clarkson dropped tobacco sponsorship for her Jakarta concert in April after anti-smoking groups argued she was effectively encouraging her young fans to smoke. Alicia Keys did the same thing in 2008.
Comment was being sought from both bands' managers.
About 66 per cent of Indonesian men are smokers, and women and children are taking up the habit at an alarming rate, anti-tobacco campaigners say.
At least 200,000 Indonesians die every year from smoking-related illnesses.
American bands Smashing Pumpkins and Dashboard Confessional are also on the festival line-up.
