Beverage brand Newport apologizes for offensive incident at festival

Newport, a beverage brand, has issued an apology following an incident at The Sounds Project music festival where a visitor's actions at their booth caused offense. Handoko Sasongko, Director of Newport, expressed regret to the Muslim community, religious leaders, and the Indonesian public for the discomfort, hurt, and commotion caused.

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Newport needs to clarify that this activity was not a program, concept promotion, challenge, or direction made or planned by Newport. The activity arose spontaneously from visitors at the location.

Sasongko clarified that the activity was not a planned program, promotion, challenge, or directive from Newport. Instead, he stated it arose spontaneously from a visitor at the event. Newport expressed deep regret that the situation was not handled appropriately at the time and acknowledged a failure in on-site supervision, which allowed actions contrary to the religious values, beliefs, culture, and customs of Indonesian society to occur.

Newport emphasized its respect for religious values and societal sensitivities in Indonesia, stating these are paramount in all its interactions. As a follow-up, the company has conducted an internal evaluation and taken disciplinary action against the personnel involved. They are also reinforcing directives and procedures for all teams and partners to ensure such an incident does not happen again.

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Newport deeply regrets that the situation was not handled as it should have been at the time. He also regretted the negligence in supervision in the field, so that actions that are not in accordance with the values of religion, beliefs, culture, and customs upheld by the community can occur.

The company views this event as a serious warning and a catalyst for deep reflection. Newport is committed to formulating stricter operational standards and guidelines, prioritizing respect for religious values, customs, and community ethics. The management has pledged that similar incidents will never be repeated in the future.

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Newport management is fully committed to ensuring that similar incidents will never happen again in the future.