FDA movie ratings for alcohol adverts borne out of needless emotions – Ola Michael 

Former PRO of the Film Producers Association of Ghana, Ola Michael, has described the Food and Drugs Authority’s regulations regarding the advertisement of alcoholic beverages during movie hours as erroneous. 

The popular movie producer insists that a section of the Authority’s movie ratings for advertisement of alcohol is invalid and borne out of needless emotions.

Speaking on Hitz FM’s Daybreak Hitz with Andy Dosty, Ola Michael said the ratings of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) was in sharp contrast to Ghana’s Film Act.

Quoting a section of the FDA regulations, he read, “alcoholic beverage advertisement shall not run during the airing of movies with the following ratings. A. Family (F), Parental Guidance (PG) and Adult Accompaniment (AA)’’

In his reaction to that section of the regulations, Ola Michael said, ’’please FDA, I was privileged enough to be part of the drafting and the promulgation of the Film Act. We don’t have these as ratings. There is nothing like family. Where are they getting these ratings from?’’

’’We are in charge of these ratings and I am telling them for a fact there is nothing like family, there is nothing like AA. They sat somewhere and based on certain needless emotions and put together all these things’’, Ola Michael claimed.

The movie producer added that the FDA’s decision to ban celebrities from adverting alcoholic beverages is negatively affecting the showbiz industry.

“They’ve made a lot of errors and confusions here, because of that our own people are struggling. Our events are struggling. Our celebs are struggling’, he bemoaned.

Apart from Ola Michael, Shatta Wale, Stonebwoy, Wendy Shay and some other celebrities have spoken against the ban on celebrities advertising alcoholic beverages in Ghana.