BY Grace Zigah
Award-winning actress and media personality Joselyn Dumas has reignited public debate over the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) restrictions on celebrity endorsements of alcoholic beverages, openly questioning the logic and fairness of a policy she says unfairly targets entertainers while leaving the product itself freely accessible.
Joselyn Dumas made her views known during a recent appearance on the Keeping It Real programme, where she challenged the long-standing directive that bars public figures from featuring in alcohol advertisements.
According to her, the policy reflects a selective approach that ignores the realities of Ghana’s entertainment and lifestyle industries, where alcohol consumption and branding are already deeply embedded.
At the centre of her argument is the FDA’s stated objective of protecting minors from exposure to alcohol marketing.
Joselyn Dumas contended that if safeguarding children is the primary concern, then regulatory attention should not stop at celebrities but should extend to alcohol as a product.
She described the current framework as contradictory, noting that alcohol remains legal, widely sold and socially accepted, yet entertainers are restricted from associating their image with it.
“Alcohol is part of entertainment and lifestyle,” she argued. “So, if the idea is to protect children, then banning celebrities alone does not solve the problem. If you want to be consistent, then you might as well ban alcohol entirely.”
Her comments have since sparked renewed conversations across social media and within creative industry circles.
Joselyn Dumas also pushed back against the notion that celebrities should be held responsible for children’s behaviour and exposure to alcohol.
She maintained that parental guidance and home training play a far greater role in shaping children’s choices than advertising campaigns do.
In her view, holding entertainers accountable for minors’ actions shifts responsibility away from parents and guardians.
“The suggestion that a child will see me in an advert and immediately decide to drink alcohol because I am a role model does not add up,” she said.
“If a parent cannot guide their child, how does that become my responsibility? Drinking is a personal choice.”
The controversy traces its roots to a policy introduced by the FDA in 2015 under its Guidelines for the Advertisement of Regulated Products.
The regulation prohibits the use of celebrities and well-known personalities in alcohol advertisements, with the aim of reducing minors’ exposure to alcohol marketing and addressing broader public health concerns linked to alcohol abuse.
The guideline was later challenged in court but ultimately upheld by Ghana’s Supreme Court, cementing its legal standing.
Supporters of the ban argue that celebrities wield significant influence, particularly among young people, and that limiting their presence in alcohol advertising is a necessary step toward curbing underage drinking and harmful consumption patterns.
