No more smoking burnouts in European racing-Jonathan Munk
While corporate sponsors continue to creep into new industries, tobacco companies might get snuffed out.
Starting at the end of the month, Formula One racing teams may be going through severe withdrawals. A European Union ban on tobacco sponsorship that comes into effect July 31 means half of the Formula One teams will have to change up their logo and sponsorship themes whenever they race in Europe.
This ban will even affect some well known teams, including Ferrari (famously sponsored by Marlboro), McLaren-Mercedes, Renault and BAR.
This announcement is another kick in the pants for tobacco companies, which are already banned from advertising on TV, billboards and the radio in the U.S. (I’m not sure about the rest of the world). What is interesting is that traditionally, the sports arena has been a haven for many tobacco companies, which have plastered their logos on cars, driving suits, gas cans–you name it. Who knows if the U.S. or other countries will follow suit. Maybe the tobacco industry will be banned from advertising altogether–unless it’s an anti-smoking campaign as mandated by the government.
It’s still not the end of the road for most racing teams, though, because outside Europe they can still race with their sponsors’ colors and paint schemes. Brad Spurgeon from the International Herald Tribune stated today that some teams will simply “replace the tobacco names and logos with other words, puns or images resembling the name or logo.” So when you see the Marlboro colors on Ferrari’s racers, you may not even notice the sponsor name missing.
A team can still have tobacco companies’ taglines on their cars too.
This seems a bit two-faced to me. Since many people who follow the sport already know who the sponsors are, why not make sure taglines and color schemes don’t resemble tobacco companies as well?