PB Djarum

PB Djarum is an Indonesian badminton club in Kudus, Central Java. The club was founded at the Djarum brak (cigarette factory) located at Jl. Bitingan Lama (now called Jl. Lukmonohadi) No. 35 in Kudus in 1969. Djarum's CEO, Budi Hartono, encouraged the use of an on-site badminton court among his employees. A young athlete, Liem Swie King, played well, leading Budi Hartono to seriously develop the Kudus community's activities into the PB Djarum organization.

PB Djarum's name gained recognition when Indonesia won the Thomas Cup in 1984 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At that time, out of eight players, seven came from PB Djarum, namely, Liem Swie King, Hastomo Arbi, Hadiyanto, Hariamanto Kartono, Rudy Heryanto, Christian Hadinata, and Hadibowo. The eighth player was Icuk Sugiarto.

Since 2006, Djarum Foundation has held badminton scholarship auditions for children, initially targeting 15-year-olds and held only in Kudus. By 2015, the auditions expanded to several cities across Indonesia, and by 2017, the age range was extended to children aged 6 to 15. Djarum, a long-established name in badminton since 1974, saw these auditions as an opportunity to market their brand, especially after the government implemented regulations in 2012 limiting tobacco advertising. In 2018, nearly 6,000 children participated in the auditions, yet only 23 received scholarships.

The significant disparity between the number of participants and scholarship recipients suggests that these auditions served more as a marketing tool than as a genuine effort to find future badminton talents. Children who did not receive scholarships often returned for subsequent auditions, unaware that they were being used to promote a tobacco company. Djarum strategically used the sport's positive image to diminish the negative stigma surrounding their tobacco products.

Audition participants were required to wear t-shirts with the Djarum logo, identical to the brand's tobacco products, and the entire event was branded with the company's imagery. Children, especially those under 13, typically did not know that Djarum was associated with cigarettes, though many learned this after participating. The use of children as promotional tools for tobacco products clearly violates laws such as the Indonesia's Child Protection Act, which prohibits economic exploitation of children.

These auditions were more than just a sports event. Djarum used children as vehicles for brand promotion, disregarding the negative effects on their health and development. Such actions are considered economic exploitation, in violation of laws protecting children from exploitation.

In September 2019, news broke that a youth badminton tournament held yearly by the Djarum Foundation, the humanitarian division of one of Indonesia’s largest cigarette companies, would be cancelled after this year due to backlash from the Indonesian Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) and Yayasan Lentera Anak (YLA), a children’s non-governmental organisation. Unsurprisingly, the cancellation of a much-awaited, high-profile event sparked outrage online.

The first PB Djarum GOR (Gelanggang Olah Raga, international-level badminton court) was located at Bitingan Lama (1969). In 1982, it was replaced by Kaliputu and known as the second GOR. Both were used by PB Djarum Kudus and now are used by local residents to practice badminton, as GOR Jati was built above the 43,207 meters squares land at Jl. Jati – Kudus in 2004 and authorized on 27 May 2006.