Award-winning gospel musician Joe Mettle has reiterated his stance on sponsorship from alcoholic brands.
During an interview on Daybreak Hitz with Andy Dosty, Joe Mettle made it clear that he would not accept sponsorship from such brands for his events.
He stated, “It is a no for me. Aside from faith, you can only work with brands that complement what you do.”
When asked about accepting anonymous sponsorship from an alcohol brand, Joe Mettle said, “With brands that give sponsorship and do not want to be mentioned, that is the silent sponsors, because silence is silent, I don’t know what I will do about that now though.”
He further explained that corporate sponsorships usually come with strings attached, as there are often obligations to fulfil in return.
“A company’s sponsorship is mostly not free since no matter what, you will be required to pay it someday since you will be invited on their stage,” he stated.
The FDA in its guidelines for the Advertisement of Foods published on February 1, 2016 stipulates that “No well-known personality or professional shall be used in alcoholic beverage advertising.”
The authority explained that the guideline was necessary to prevent minors from being addicted to alcohol due to the influence of celebrities.
The FDA further noted that the ban was in adherence with a policy by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and also part of efforts to protect children and young ones from being lured into alcoholism.
However, a citizen Mark Darlington filed a suit against the FDA’s directive praying the Apex court to hold as unconstitutional the directive as it violated the right against discrimination as guaranteed by Article 17 of the 1992 Constitution.
But the Supreme court in a 5-2 majority decision on Wednesday, June 19 dismissed the case and upheld the FDA’s directive.
The court held that the directive by FDA was not unreasonable and excessive, adding that it didn’t contravene the provision of the constitution.
