Mission Winnow and British American Tobacco: these two brands are the last survivors as far as tobacco companies in Formula 1 are concerned, brands sported on some occasions by Ferrari and McLaren respectively. Tobacco sponsors have invested a lot of money in motorsport throughout time, by displaying their brands and logos on F1 cars and motorcycles at the start of the World Championship. Marlboro, Rothmans, West, Camel, Gauloises, Chesterfield, MS, Winston, Fortuna are just some of the many cigarette brands that have alternated alongside very prestigious teams, guaranteeing generous sponsorships.
The battle to sensitize the new generations to give up the habit of smoking has gradually led to the removal of such partnerships and their millions, being replaced mainly by energy drinks given that Monster and Red Bull are giants present in both paddocks. Philip Morris is a historic partner of Ferrari and Ducati, but with the latter it has not renewed the contract and negotiations with the Maranello team await the formalization of a renewal that is expected from last February.
Furthermore, today’s edition of the newspaper La Repubblica reports an episode that is significant from the point of view of this delicate topic. Indeed, on 20 August the Italian Ministry of Health wrote to Ducati, Ferrari and McLaren a confidential letter, signed by Giovanni Rezza, the Health Ministry’s Director of Prevention. In the letter in question, these teams are required to “pay the utmost attention and sensitivity” to the issue of damage caused by tobacco and its derivatives. Emphasizing that the most fragile victims are young people, the main targets of the Philip Morris and British American Tobacco campaigns. Following the indications of the World Health Organization, Giovanni Rezza strongly suggested to the three big teams to behave accordingly with respect to the more or less evident sponsorships of products such as electronic ones.
Leave a Reply