FDA, Attorney General sued over prohibition on celebrities endorsing alcoholic beverages

Mark Darlington Osae, manager of Reggie ‘N’ Bollie and Skrewfaze, has sued the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame over the prohibition on celebrities endorsing alcoholic beverages.

The FDA has long prohibited the use of celebrities to promote alcoholic beverages on any platform.

The FDA states in its Guidelines for Food Advertisement that “no well-known personality or professional shall be used in alcoholic beverage advertising.” According to the government, this regulation is part of an effort to keep minors from becoming addicted to alcohol.

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In a writ of summons issued on November 11, 2022, Mark Darlington Osae claimed that the FDA’s 2015 rules are biased against the creative arts business and rob them of another source of income. “No well-known personality or professional shall be used in alcoholic beverage advertising,” according to the FDA guidelines.

“Articles 17(1) and 17(2) of the 1992 Constitution guarantee quality before the law and prohibit discrimination against persons on the basis of social or economic status, occupation, among others, and are thus null, void, and unenforceable.”

The Attorney General was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Before the lawsuit, many people in the creative sector, including Wendy Shay, Shatta Wale, Brother Sammy, Kuami Eugene, and Camidoh, spoke out against the law and urged decision-makers to repeal it.