Nkonkonsa Celebrity Gossip From Africa
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been summoned by the Supreme Court to answer questions on its order prohibiting celebrities from endorsing alcoholic products.
These guidelines forbid the use of famous people or celebrities to advertise alcoholic beverages in any format.
In its Guidelines for the Advertisement of Foods, FDA states that “No well-known personality or professional shall be used in alcoholic beverage advertising.”
The Guidelines describe a well-known personality as “any person who arouses sufficient interest in society. This may include historical, political, religious, academic, cultural figures as well as celebrities and sports figures.”
These regulations are meant to ensure that alcoholic beverage advertisements are controlled in order to limit the exposure of children to such advertisements and to promote the responsible consumption of alcoholic beverages.
The complainant believes that this is bad for the Ghanaian entertainment sector since it eliminates a potential source of income for them.
The artiste manager and music publisher is however praying the Supreme Court to render unconstitutional the guidelines which stipulate that “No well-known personality or professional shall be used in alcoholic beverage advertising.”
The plaintiff, Mark Darlington Osae, claimed in the writ issued on November 11 that these directions amount to discrimination on the basis of economic status, occupation, and other factors.
According to the complaint, it violates articles 17(1) and 17(2) of the 1992 Constitution and is inconsistent with them.
A party to the lawsuit was also identified as the Attorney General.
Since the directive’s inception, this lawsuit is the first.
The FDA and some famous people have been engaged in a conflict over its enforcement.
One of these celebrities who has been particularly vocal about the losses she has suffered as a result of FDA orders is Wendy Shay.
NKONKONSA.com
