Baba Sadiq, the founder of 3Music Network, believes the Food and Drug Administration’s order prohibiting celebrities from appearing in alcoholic beverage commercials is restricting the creative business.
Prior to the FDA guidelines, he claims, the beverage sector was the primary sponsor of creative material.
He went on to say that the law is depriving celebrities of potential income streams and impeding the expansion of the entertainment business.
Mr Sadiq addressed these issues at Joy FM’s Accra Showbiz Roundtable.
The third edition of the thought-leadership course looked at the dynamics of sponsorship in the creative industry.
“The beverages used to be the biggest sponsors of a lot of creative contents or creative experiences in town, but due to regulation and also their inability to get the full benefit… Today, even if you promised them [beverage companies] media for the experience that you’re creating, they’ll know that they will not get the full extent of it.
“If it is an alcoholic brand, he knows that it cannot be seen at certain times. So first and foremost, he’s not actually getting the full benefit. So they’ll probably zero down and come down to the experiential benefit that they’ll get,” he said.
The FDA prohibits the use of celebrities in the advertising of alcoholic drinks through any means.
The policy is part of the government’s attempts to safeguard adolescents from being enticed into alcoholism.
However, several industry leaders, notably Baba Sidiq, believe this action would have a negative influence on the entertainment business.
He also stated that time constraints on beverage marketing in the media make it difficult for industry stakeholders to build a suitable package for alcoholic beverage makers.
