Gospel musician Nacee says the Food and Drugs Authority’s decision to ban local celebrities from advertising alcoholic beverages is uncalled for and makes no sense.
According to him, it is discriminatory for famous people in the country to face restrictions while foreigners are permitted to promote such products.
In a recent media interview, Nacee insisted that ordinary people who were being used to advertise alcoholic products stood a chance to become very popular endorsers and argued that the ban on celebrities would be futile in the long run.
“A continued posting of images and videos of people makes them popular. Nobody knew Michael Power until Guinness kept pushing his commercials.”
“If we feature an ordinary person in ads and keep promoting the said ads, they will rise to become popular in a couple of months, so much so that they may not be able to buy food from the roadside,” he said.
Nacee then called on the FDA to uplift the ban to enable celebrities to also make money from their hard work.
“It is good to regulate whatever we do, but it should not be discriminatory. We love foreigners more than ourselves; it doesn’t make sense. Let’s stop starving ourselves while giving foreigners juicy deals,” he added.
In 2015, the FDA banned Ghanaian celebrities from advertising alcoholic beverages.
According to the regulator, the ban was in adherence to a World Health Organization (WHO) policy.
It also said the decision was part of efforts to protect children and prevent them from being lured into alcoholism.
Source: Ghana/MaxTV/MaxFM/max.com.gh/Joyceline Natally Cudjoe
