I. Introduction
Indonesia was born, grown and developed in the land where the people still adhere to hereditary values and norms of ancient wisdom. Many of them offer this tradition through their family from generation to generation until now. Even in today’s modern life, there are many practically things rooted or dependent on believing in myths, divine words, and a sacred force.
It has also happened to brands and logos. The owner or the businessman is always confused between business and beliefs, while deciding on a product name or a brand. This phenomenon has also impacted a very popular and broadly consumed product by millions of people in Indonesia, clove cigarettes.
In a closer look, many brands and logos of cigarettes, especially clove cigarettes, refer to norms or beliefs. Therefore, we see a brand without rational thought. A brand or logo related to illogical reason may seem ridiculous for people who work in the graphic design fields. Because designing a visual identity for a brand is supposed to be very logical and be supported by strong and clear reasons. Believe it or not, a lot of Indonesia’s clove cigarettes brands are created upon mythical reason.
Admitted or not by the owner of the brand, they are really true believers of invisible forces. They believe these forces will bring luck and prosperity to their product life cycles and advantages for growth in the future. At this point, this role of belief in invisible forces plays a crucial decision. The look of a brand is not just combining the graphic elements, but it must be connected to the myth of invisible forces. It is aimed to give good fortune and deliver profit to those who apply it.
Nowadays, there are people, alone or in a group, which still practice this mythical belief in doing their business plans. This following paragraph will discuss the myth behind clove cigarettes.
II. History of Indonesia’s clove cigarettes.
Indonesia’s historical clove cigarette story has come along with the part of Indonesia’s tradition culture. People who love to smoke clove cigarettes are coming from all area of society. It has gained popularity from priyayi (upper class) to rahayat jelata (homeless people), they are all smoke clove cigarettes. It can be seen from the total production of clove cigarettes, which is six times greater than white cigarettes. It is easy for people to start a conversation with a stranger by offering them a cigarette. Even though that person, who we offer a cigarette, does not smoke, naturally, a nice conversation will begin. However, it is not so polite to ask somebody for a cigarette, which is usual for people in France to ask somebody cigarettes. “Can I have a light?” (Boleh minta apinya?) is an ordinary question, which Indonesians ask for a light to smoke.
Indonesia’s archipelago is one of the most rich and beautiful lands of the world. Many western and north invaders love to conquer these remarkable islands to get their spices and agricultural stocks. Indonesians’ likes spicy and tasty foods; they like to add more flavors. Indonesians’ foods have many combined spices and mixed techniques. This people’s nature brings the local genius to come up with the idea to create clove cigarettes.
Once upon a time, Kudus people invented clove cigarettes. History said that the inventors of clove cigarettes are Haji Jamahri, the native people of Kudus in the early of 1880. Jamahri, as told by Amen Budiman and Onghokham, was a citizen of Kudus Town who had asthma for a long time. He cured this long time illness while he treated himself with handmade cigarettes. He sliced cloves into small pieces, mixed it with cut tobacco, and then put the materials inside a suitable dried corn leaf; at last, he covered it up by spinning (rolling) the leaf. Now, the clove cigarette is ready. When he lit the cigarette, a funny crackling sound came out. It sounded like, “Kretek! Kretek! Kretek!” That is why they called it rokok kretek (kretek cigarette). Jamahri is believed to have died around 1890, and the industry of clove cigarettes in Kudus born between 1870-1880. However, no one knows when he was born, where he lived, who was his wife, even less his lines of heredity.
In contrast, it is different from the well-known Niti Semito called “Raja Kretek”(King of Clove Cigarettes). This so called “Raja Kretek” had obvious life records and a business growth background, natives and the Dutch invaders knew him well at that time. By early 1863, Niti Semito was born as the youngest boy of two Haji Soelaemans’ sons, a Lurah (chief of village) Janggalan, at district of Kudus Town. His father was head of Janggalan Village. Niti Semito has wandered to Mojokerto (East Java) and became a cloth businessman. After a while he returned to his hometown, Kudus, in here he was selling Batik cloth and clothes, which he bought from Solo. After marrying Nasilah in 1894 year, he produced his own Batik and at the same time, he opened a warung (traditional booth selling daily needs). In 1906, Niti Semito started to sell his own produced cigarettes, which were made from slices of cloves, cut tobaccos, and maize’s from dried corn leaves. Finally, in the year 1914, Niti Semito decided to put his concentration into clove cigarettes business, because the continual cigarette production was rising, and it needed serious handling.
Some predictions say that the growth of the clove cigarettes industry in Indonesia was mushrooming in the year of 1870 or 1880. The shape of cigarettes from that time was different with today cigarettes form. Kretek with klobot (dried corn leaf) was the most cigarettes consumed by people; among of them there were famous brand as Kooa and Muzuho. Nowadays, the famous clove cigarettes companies are Mari Kangen in Solo, and followed by Sampoerna Cigarette Company in Surabaya.
Even though everything was simple at that time, the man behind the cigarette production expressed himself freely. They were simple by itself but dared to show off themselves obviously in the packaging by putting their name or photograph on it.
III. Four Major Brands of Clove Cigarettes.
There are four important players in the clove cigarettes industry in Indonesia, who create the taste of Indonesia’s smoking habits. The brands are Sampoerna, Bentoel, Djarum, and Gudang Garam. Every brand has a story behind the creation of their name and logogram.
III.1. Sampoerna
The story of Sampoerna began in 1912 year, where the young Seeng Tee started his cigarettes business in a small factory somewhere outside Surabaya, East Java. Then rapidly he developed and decided to continue to improve sales revenue from cigarettes and its commodities.
First, Seeng Tee sold cigarettes without any additives, but he offered many natural taste variations, it had a flavor like chocolate, vanilla, nutmeg or clove, which was mixed with tobacco. Then he started to realize that certain flavors and combinations of ingredients were more acceptable than others were. Because of it, he tried to create a tasteful clove cigarette that gave an expression which reflected the personality of the cigarette smokers. He sold it in packaging and it became a hit at that time. That was the birth of all clove cigarette brands in Indonesia, Dji Sam Soe.
Applying Feng Shui, a Chinese science of luck, he gave the name of Dji Sam Soe. It uses visual elements of nine stars. Nine philosophically means perfection. It has some positive meanings, such as hope, creativity from the past, also brotherhood and religion. Dji Sam Soe is two-three-four, added and the sum is nine. Nine is a representation of gold elements, a connotation to wealthiness. The package uses yellow color that represents land ground element, and it is a match for the gold element.
Besides Dji Sam Soe, Sampoerna also introduced a brand called A-Mild, one of the exponents of ‘healthy’ cigarettes that claimed it had low tar and low nicotine.
III.2. Bentoel.
As a man who grew up in Bojonegoro, East Java, Ong Hok Liong first knew the business of clove cigarettes when he became an assistant to his father’s tobacco trading company. Even though he was smart enough at buying and selling tobacco, he still had problems with the loss and profit in sales.
Ong Hok Liong tried to distribute his product by selling it door to door by employing many salesmen to do it. His company grew bigger and took over a tobacco factory in Blitar. In order to ensure that he did not make a wrong turn and fail, he went to Kawi Mountain to be enlightened by meditated near the tomb of an ascetic named Mbah Djugo. At one night he had a dream about meeting with a bentoel vendor. Bentoel is the root of the cassava plant, and then the graveyard guardian told him it meant he should used the bentoel as his business sign or logo.
Nowadays, Bentoel is a major player in the cigarettes industry. Bentoel is famous in Asia, like in Malaysia. If Sampoerna introduced A-Mild, Bentoel introduced StarMild as its rival. Because of following the trend in modern designs, Bentoel eliminated their ‘bentoel’ picture from the new product packaging. Unfortunately, the graphic income of this company is showing degradation. Eliminate your lucky sign which mean you eliminate your profit too. Believe it or not?
III.3. Djarum.
Djarum is one of the most famous clove cigarettes industries in Indonesia and well known in other countries. Its originally name was Djarum Gramophone, and shortened by Oei Wie Gwan. It is located in Kudus, the kretek birthplace.
Oei Wie Gwan became more aware about his product sign. Using his Feng shui knowledge, the Djarum (the object logo) was pointing to seven o’clock and five minute. Seven means intellectuality and five means growth, then if we reverse this number to five-seven, it means progressive. He comes up with this idea because an unexplained supernatural experience.
Djarum found the right formula in combining cloves and tobacco, which is why they claimed to offer a new clove cigarette taste, and they proved it well. The manufacture of kretek is an incredibly complex process. Besides contains with tobacco, kretek possesses two other crucial ingredients - cloves and a mysterious 'sauce'.
A single brand of kretek may include over thirty different tobacco varieties, while employing more than one hundred different flavors in its sauce. These mysterious sauces are the important things; they make a different taste among other brands. The sauce recipe is a top secret.
III.4. Gudang Garam
The youngest but the strongest cigarette brand is Gudang Garam. A brand which has stood for fifty years founded by Tjoa Ing Hwie. He worked with his uncle to combine tobacco with some sauces in a factory named Cap 93. Once upon a time, it was a very successful brand in East Java. As an intelligent and hard worker, he gained the position as company director in short time.
After years, he decided to leave the company and started his own company. He dreamt about salt warehouses, which exactly across the factory of Cap 93. Sarman, who accompany him while he left the company, told him to use the picture and name Gudang Garam on his newly developed product packaging. Tjoa Ing Hwie agreed with this idea, and asked Sarman to design the logo.
Besides becoming the largest cigarette factory in Indonesia, Gudang Garam also the tenth largest clove cigarette producer in the world.
IV. Uniqueness of Indonesia’s Cigarettes Brands.
A Belief cannot be separated from people’s culture. No matter how modern life is affected, this belief still exists in their lifes. Because of it, in order to design a brand or logo, this philosophical belief plays an important part in making a decision. This combination of modern thinking in design and the philosophy of myth can make a unique design.
This tradition has become an unwritten rule, whether people realize it or not, they make in belief’s the base of their life vision. Even though they live in a modern social life, wear jeans, play playstations and eat burger, but this people has not separated from their old culture beliefs, like choosing a good day for married, choose a house with a good land contour, or designing a logo with many considerations and calculations about good or bad luck.
That is why Indonesia has many smokers, because they believe that smoking is not harmful to their health. As the legend of the inventors of clove cigarettes had told us. People have gotten into habit of smoking as their life’s ritual.
Indonesia was born, grown and developed in the land where the people still adhere to hereditary values and norms of ancient wisdom. Many of them offer this tradition through their family from generation to generation until now. Even in today’s modern life, there are many practically things rooted or dependent on believing in myths, divine words, and a sacred force.
It has also happened to brands and logos. The owner or the businessman is always confused between business and beliefs, while deciding on a product name or a brand. This phenomenon has also impacted a very popular and broadly consumed product by millions of people in Indonesia, clove cigarettes.
In a closer look, many brands and logos of cigarettes, especially clove cigarettes, refer to norms or beliefs. Therefore, we see a brand without rational thought. A brand or logo related to illogical reason may seem ridiculous for people who work in the graphic design fields. Because designing a visual identity for a brand is supposed to be very logical and be supported by strong and clear reasons. Believe it or not, a lot of Indonesia’s clove cigarettes brands are created upon mythical reason.
Admitted or not by the owner of the brand, they are really true believers of invisible forces. They believe these forces will bring luck and prosperity to their product life cycles and advantages for growth in the future. At this point, this role of belief in invisible forces plays a crucial decision. The look of a brand is not just combining the graphic elements, but it must be connected to the myth of invisible forces. It is aimed to give good fortune and deliver profit to those who apply it.
Nowadays, there are people, alone or in a group, which still practice this mythical belief in doing their business plans. This following paragraph will discuss the myth behind clove cigarettes.
II. History of Indonesia’s clove cigarettes.
Indonesia’s historical clove cigarette story has come along with the part of Indonesia’s tradition culture. People who love to smoke clove cigarettes are coming from all area of society. It has gained popularity from priyayi (upper class) to rahayat jelata (homeless people), they are all smoke clove cigarettes. It can be seen from the total production of clove cigarettes, which is six times greater than white cigarettes. It is easy for people to start a conversation with a stranger by offering them a cigarette. Even though that person, who we offer a cigarette, does not smoke, naturally, a nice conversation will begin. However, it is not so polite to ask somebody for a cigarette, which is usual for people in France to ask somebody cigarettes. “Can I have a light?” (Boleh minta apinya?) is an ordinary question, which Indonesians ask for a light to smoke.
Indonesia’s archipelago is one of the most rich and beautiful lands of the world. Many western and north invaders love to conquer these remarkable islands to get their spices and agricultural stocks. Indonesians’ likes spicy and tasty foods; they like to add more flavors. Indonesians’ foods have many combined spices and mixed techniques. This people’s nature brings the local genius to come up with the idea to create clove cigarettes.
Once upon a time, Kudus people invented clove cigarettes. History said that the inventors of clove cigarettes are Haji Jamahri, the native people of Kudus in the early of 1880. Jamahri, as told by Amen Budiman and Onghokham, was a citizen of Kudus Town who had asthma for a long time. He cured this long time illness while he treated himself with handmade cigarettes. He sliced cloves into small pieces, mixed it with cut tobacco, and then put the materials inside a suitable dried corn leaf; at last, he covered it up by spinning (rolling) the leaf. Now, the clove cigarette is ready. When he lit the cigarette, a funny crackling sound came out. It sounded like, “Kretek! Kretek! Kretek!” That is why they called it rokok kretek (kretek cigarette). Jamahri is believed to have died around 1890, and the industry of clove cigarettes in Kudus born between 1870-1880. However, no one knows when he was born, where he lived, who was his wife, even less his lines of heredity.
In contrast, it is different from the well-known Niti Semito called “Raja Kretek”(King of Clove Cigarettes). This so called “Raja Kretek” had obvious life records and a business growth background, natives and the Dutch invaders knew him well at that time. By early 1863, Niti Semito was born as the youngest boy of two Haji Soelaemans’ sons, a Lurah (chief of village) Janggalan, at district of Kudus Town. His father was head of Janggalan Village. Niti Semito has wandered to Mojokerto (East Java) and became a cloth businessman. After a while he returned to his hometown, Kudus, in here he was selling Batik cloth and clothes, which he bought from Solo. After marrying Nasilah in 1894 year, he produced his own Batik and at the same time, he opened a warung (traditional booth selling daily needs). In 1906, Niti Semito started to sell his own produced cigarettes, which were made from slices of cloves, cut tobaccos, and maize’s from dried corn leaves. Finally, in the year 1914, Niti Semito decided to put his concentration into clove cigarettes business, because the continual cigarette production was rising, and it needed serious handling.
Some predictions say that the growth of the clove cigarettes industry in Indonesia was mushrooming in the year of 1870 or 1880. The shape of cigarettes from that time was different with today cigarettes form. Kretek with klobot (dried corn leaf) was the most cigarettes consumed by people; among of them there were famous brand as Kooa and Muzuho. Nowadays, the famous clove cigarettes companies are Mari Kangen in Solo, and followed by Sampoerna Cigarette Company in Surabaya.
Even though everything was simple at that time, the man behind the cigarette production expressed himself freely. They were simple by itself but dared to show off themselves obviously in the packaging by putting their name or photograph on it.
III. Four Major Brands of Clove Cigarettes.
There are four important players in the clove cigarettes industry in Indonesia, who create the taste of Indonesia’s smoking habits. The brands are Sampoerna, Bentoel, Djarum, and Gudang Garam. Every brand has a story behind the creation of their name and logogram.
III.1. Sampoerna
The story of Sampoerna began in 1912 year, where the young Seeng Tee started his cigarettes business in a small factory somewhere outside Surabaya, East Java. Then rapidly he developed and decided to continue to improve sales revenue from cigarettes and its commodities.
First, Seeng Tee sold cigarettes without any additives, but he offered many natural taste variations, it had a flavor like chocolate, vanilla, nutmeg or clove, which was mixed with tobacco. Then he started to realize that certain flavors and combinations of ingredients were more acceptable than others were. Because of it, he tried to create a tasteful clove cigarette that gave an expression which reflected the personality of the cigarette smokers. He sold it in packaging and it became a hit at that time. That was the birth of all clove cigarette brands in Indonesia, Dji Sam Soe.
Applying Feng Shui, a Chinese science of luck, he gave the name of Dji Sam Soe. It uses visual elements of nine stars. Nine philosophically means perfection. It has some positive meanings, such as hope, creativity from the past, also brotherhood and religion. Dji Sam Soe is two-three-four, added and the sum is nine. Nine is a representation of gold elements, a connotation to wealthiness. The package uses yellow color that represents land ground element, and it is a match for the gold element.
Besides Dji Sam Soe, Sampoerna also introduced a brand called A-Mild, one of the exponents of ‘healthy’ cigarettes that claimed it had low tar and low nicotine.
III.2. Bentoel.
As a man who grew up in Bojonegoro, East Java, Ong Hok Liong first knew the business of clove cigarettes when he became an assistant to his father’s tobacco trading company. Even though he was smart enough at buying and selling tobacco, he still had problems with the loss and profit in sales.
Ong Hok Liong tried to distribute his product by selling it door to door by employing many salesmen to do it. His company grew bigger and took over a tobacco factory in Blitar. In order to ensure that he did not make a wrong turn and fail, he went to Kawi Mountain to be enlightened by meditated near the tomb of an ascetic named Mbah Djugo. At one night he had a dream about meeting with a bentoel vendor. Bentoel is the root of the cassava plant, and then the graveyard guardian told him it meant he should used the bentoel as his business sign or logo.
Nowadays, Bentoel is a major player in the cigarettes industry. Bentoel is famous in Asia, like in Malaysia. If Sampoerna introduced A-Mild, Bentoel introduced StarMild as its rival. Because of following the trend in modern designs, Bentoel eliminated their ‘bentoel’ picture from the new product packaging. Unfortunately, the graphic income of this company is showing degradation. Eliminate your lucky sign which mean you eliminate your profit too. Believe it or not?
III.3. Djarum.
Djarum is one of the most famous clove cigarettes industries in Indonesia and well known in other countries. Its originally name was Djarum Gramophone, and shortened by Oei Wie Gwan. It is located in Kudus, the kretek birthplace.
Oei Wie Gwan became more aware about his product sign. Using his Feng shui knowledge, the Djarum (the object logo) was pointing to seven o’clock and five minute. Seven means intellectuality and five means growth, then if we reverse this number to five-seven, it means progressive. He comes up with this idea because an unexplained supernatural experience.
Djarum found the right formula in combining cloves and tobacco, which is why they claimed to offer a new clove cigarette taste, and they proved it well. The manufacture of kretek is an incredibly complex process. Besides contains with tobacco, kretek possesses two other crucial ingredients - cloves and a mysterious 'sauce'.
A single brand of kretek may include over thirty different tobacco varieties, while employing more than one hundred different flavors in its sauce. These mysterious sauces are the important things; they make a different taste among other brands. The sauce recipe is a top secret.
III.4. Gudang Garam
The youngest but the strongest cigarette brand is Gudang Garam. A brand which has stood for fifty years founded by Tjoa Ing Hwie. He worked with his uncle to combine tobacco with some sauces in a factory named Cap 93. Once upon a time, it was a very successful brand in East Java. As an intelligent and hard worker, he gained the position as company director in short time.
After years, he decided to leave the company and started his own company. He dreamt about salt warehouses, which exactly across the factory of Cap 93. Sarman, who accompany him while he left the company, told him to use the picture and name Gudang Garam on his newly developed product packaging. Tjoa Ing Hwie agreed with this idea, and asked Sarman to design the logo.
Besides becoming the largest cigarette factory in Indonesia, Gudang Garam also the tenth largest clove cigarette producer in the world.
IV. Uniqueness of Indonesia’s Cigarettes Brands.
A Belief cannot be separated from people’s culture. No matter how modern life is affected, this belief still exists in their lifes. Because of it, in order to design a brand or logo, this philosophical belief plays an important part in making a decision. This combination of modern thinking in design and the philosophy of myth can make a unique design.
This tradition has become an unwritten rule, whether people realize it or not, they make in belief’s the base of their life vision. Even though they live in a modern social life, wear jeans, play playstations and eat burger, but this people has not separated from their old culture beliefs, like choosing a good day for married, choose a house with a good land contour, or designing a logo with many considerations and calculations about good or bad luck.
That is why Indonesia has many smokers, because they believe that smoking is not harmful to their health. As the legend of the inventors of clove cigarettes had told us. People have gotten into habit of smoking as their life’s ritual.
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