Motor Racing, Tobacco Company Sponsorship, Barcodes and Alibi Marketing Bruce Grant-Braham,1 John Britton2

Research paper Tob Control: first published as 10.1136/tc.2011.043448 on 5 August 2011. Downloaded from Motor racing, tobacco company sponsorship, barcodes and alibi marketing Bruce Grant-Braham,1 John Britton2 1Motor Sport Research Group, ABSTRACT Over recent decades, an increasing number of School of Tourism, Background Sponsorship of Formula One (F1) motor national governments have acted to prevent this Bournemouth University, Poole, racing, which has been used as an indirect medium of method of tobacco promotion by prohibiting the Dorset, UK 2UK Centre for Tobacco Control tobacco advertising for several decades, was prohibited display of tobacco advertising in motor racing and Studies, Division of by the 2005 European Union Tobacco Advertising other sports, and in July 2005 tobacco sponsorship Epidemiology and Public Health, Directive. Most F1 tobacco sponsorship of motor racing of cross-border events or activities was explicitly University of Nottingham, in the EU has since ceased, with the exception of the prohibited across all EU member states by the EU Nottingham, UK Scuderia Ferrari team, which continues to be funded Tobacco Advertising Directive.7 Most tobacco Correspondence to by Philip Morris. In 2007, the Marlboro logo on sponsorship of F1, at least in Europe, then came to Dr Bruce Grant-Braham Motor Ferrari cars and other race regalia was replaced by an an end, with the exception of Marlboro sponsor- Sport Research Group, School of evolving ‘barcode’ design, which Ferrari later claimed ship of the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team by Philip Tourism, Bournemouth was part of the livery of the car, and not a Marlboro Morris, which has continued to date. In 2007, the University, Dorset House, Talbot ’ Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, advertisement. Marlboro logo on Ferrari F1 cars, drivers race suits Dorset BH12 5BB, UK; Objective To determine whether the ‘barcode’ graphics and helmets, and in the Scuderia Ferrari team logo, [email protected] used by Ferrari represent ‘alibi’ Marlboro advertising. was, with the exception of the 2007 Bahrain, Methods Academic and grey literature, and online Monaco and Chinese F1 races, substituted with Received 2 February 2011 tobacco industry document archives, were searched using a vertical stripe ‘barcode’ design which, over Accepted 11 July 2011 terms relevant to tobacco marketing and motorsport. Published Online First successive years on cars and other livery, has 5 August 2012 Results Tobacco sponsorship of F1 motor racing began become increasingly complex. in 1968, and Philip Morris has sponsored F1 teams since Ferrari has claimed that the barcode designs are 1972. Phillip Morris first used a ‘barcode’ design, simply part of the livery of the car, and not comprising red vertical parallel lines below the word a marketing tool.8 We have therefore reviewed the Marlboro on the British Racing Motors F1 car in 1972. history of tobacco industry sponsorship of F1 Vertical or horizontal ‘barcode’ designs have been used in motor racing and searched tobacco industry docu- this way, latterly without the word Marlboro, ever since. ment archives to determine whether this claim can The modern ‘barcode’ logos occupied the same position be substantiated. http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/ on cars and drivers’ clothing as conventional Marlboro logos in the past. The shared use of red colour by METHODS Marlboro and Ferrari is also recognised by Philip Morris The historical context of motor racing sponsorship as a means of promoting brand association between 9 was sourced from Grant-Braham’s earlier work Marlboro and Ferrari. and augmented between May and July 2010 by Conclusion The Ferrari ‘barcode’ designs are alibi iterative searches of tobacco industry documents in Marlboro logos and hence constitute advertising the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library (http:// prohibited by the 2005 EU Tobacco Advertising Directive. legacy.library.ucsf.edu), the British American Tobacco (BAT) Documents Archive (http://bat. library.ucsf.edu) and the UK Tobacco Industry Advertising Documents Database (http://www. on 17 June 2019 by guest. Protected copyright. INTRODUCTION tobaccopapers.com) for terms associated with both Advertising is the primary means by which tobacco and motor racing. These initially comprised commercial companies promote their products and motor racing, auto racing, trademark, logo services. Advertising can be direct, as in overt paid- and barcode, and searches on these terms identified for space in broadcast, print and other media, or others such as Marlboro, Philip Morris, red roof, indirect, through media reporting of events or McLaren (F1 Team), Ferrari (F1 Team), Penske images containing direct advertising. Both (IndyCar Team), livery, subliminal marketing, indi- approaches have been exploited by tobacco rect marketing and dark markets, which were companies for many years, but as a result of included in subsequent searches. We also included increasing restrictions on direct advertising of the names of specific individuals identified from tobacco on television and in other media in many retrieved documents as having been involved in countries since the late 1960s, tobacco companies tobacco product marketing or in administering the have become increasingly reliant on indirect sponsorship of teams or championships in motor e methods to promote their products.1 5 racing. More than 1200 documents were accessed One of the most enduring and successful forms online and of these 200 proved relevant for detailed This paper is freely available of indirect advertising, particularly in relation to analysis. In accordance with previous recommen- online under the BMJ Journals unlocked scheme, see http://tc. promoting uptake of smoking among children, is dations, we have, where possible, attempted to 6 bmj.com/site/about/unlocked. sponsorship of sport. This is especially true of triangulate industry document findings with data xhtml motor racing, and particularly Formula One (F1). from other sources.10 Tobacco Control 2012;21:529–535. doi:10.1136/tc.2011.043448 529 Research paper Tob Control: first published as 10.1136/tc.2011.043448 on 5 August 2011. Downloaded from RESULTS addressing the implications for tobacco manufacturers of the e Sponsorship in motor racing adoption of the EU Tobacco Advertising Directive.25 27 Other The F1 World Championship for Drivers and Constructors was tobacco companies took a similar approach: Philip Morris established in 1950 and has since been contested annually justified its motorsport sponsorship on the back of TV coverage through a worldwide series of Grand Prix races. In the early years as ‘particularly important in restricted markets’.28 of the competition, commercial advertising and sponsorship were restricted and cars tended to race in the sport’s national Marlboro sponsorship in F1 colours. However, in 1968 these restrictions were lifted, and in Philip Morris’ Marlboro cigarette brand first appeared in the the 1968 South African Grand Prix a car raced carrying the USA in 1924 and, having originally being aimed at women by Rhodesian tobacco company Gunston cigarette brand livery. At offering an option of a ‘Red Beauty Tip’ to hide lipstick marks, the next F1 race at Jarama in Spain, Colin Chapman, who has always been associated with the colour red. In 1954, Marl- founded the Lotus F1 Team, and is credited as the pioneer of boro was repositioned as a masculine and full-flavour cigarette tobacco sponsorship in F1, paired Team Lotus with Imperial with ‘roof-top’ graphics on the packaging. Marlboro Reds were Tobacco’s Gold Leaf cigarette brand in what proved to be the launched in 1985.29 beginning of a long association between F1 and tobacco Philip Morris began sponsoring F1 with the British Racing e finance.11 13 The incorporation of the sponsor’s name into that Motors (BRM) team in 1972 with the creation of ‘Marlboro of the racing team, Gold Leaf Team Lotus, and the complete BRM’, and was probably the first F1 sponsor to recognise the branding of the racing cars in a commercial livery, was the first importance of leveraging this involvement by creating example in F1 of a practice that became known as ‘brand- ‘marketing projects’. For example, in 1972 the company flew standing’.14 Lotus went on to create a prime example of journalists to the team’s French launch, at which the racing car brandstanding in the form of the Lotus John Player Special emerged from a giant Marlboro cigarette packet, achieving cigarette brand promotion, ‘which is still associated in many widespread media publicity (figure 1). people’s minds with the sport some years after it came to an In 1974, Marlboro sponsorship was moved from BRM to the end’.15 That the product being promoted had no obvious link McLaren F1 team, establishing an association that would with the sport itself was a landmark development, demon- continue for 23 years.14 The success of this enterprise was strating ‘the recognition by commercial organisations that at the recognised, for example, by Philip Morris in Australia where the international level the spectacle of a Grand Prix . could be used Marlboro market share was low but brand awareness was for promotional and advertising purposes’.16 ‘comparatively very high at 32%.as a result of Marlboro’s sponsorship of the McLaren (F1) Team and Team Roberts F1: a global sport (motorcycle racing)’.30 Marlboro’s penetration of the Japanese From the outset, the F1 World Championship has been market increased following the broadcasting of Marlboro contested globally. Although at first the majority

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