Ferrari F1 in trouble for using subliminal cigarette branding
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A report has emerged that said doctors have called for an investigation in what they describe as subliminal tobacco advertising on Ferrari’s Formula One cars.
Subliminal is something that “exists or operates below the threshold of consciousness”, the report went on to state that the red, white and black bar code on Ferrari’s cars and overalls was aimed at linking viewers with the Marlboro brand. Well, truth be said, Ferrari and Marlboro have done a tremendous job because everyone has known since it first started that those barcodes represent Marlboro.
Philip Morris, the maker of Marlboro, has backed Ferrari and other Formula One teams for decades now. But a EU ban on tobacco advertising has seen the brand facing a difficult situation because Ferrari and Marlboro went into a ten-year contract in 2001 a time where cigarette branding was still allowed. The contract is said to be worth US$1 billion but Ferrari has always refused to disclose the figure. Well even if its not US1 billion, its still got to be a lot of money, such prominent branding on the most successful Formula One team ever will never come cheap. Ever.
John Britton, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and director of its tobacco advisory group, told the Times: “The bar code looks like the bottom half of a packet of Marlboro cigarettes. I was stunned when I saw it. This is pushing at the limits. If you look at how the bar code has evolved over the last four years, it looks like creeping branding.”
A spokesman for Ferrari told the newspaper: “The bar code is part of the livery of the car. It is not part of a subliminal advertising campaign.” A spokesman for Philip Morris said the deal complied with the law.
Ferrari is the only F1 team with a tobacco brand in its formal title – Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. Its official logo also features a bar code and its drivers wear overalls bearing the bar code next to the Ferrari logo.
Our verdict: Ferrari is going to have some answering to do pretty soon if the heat stays on this way. A few hundred million fine coming its way for promoting tobacco use? No way, never Ferrari, it just doesn’t work that way.
A report has emerged that said doctors have called for an investigation in what they describe as subliminal tobacco advertising on Ferrari’s Formula One cars.Subliminal is something that “exists or operates below the threshold of consciousness”, the report went on to state that the red, white and black bar code on Ferrari’s cars and overalls was aimed at linking viewers with the Marlboro brand. Well, truth be said, Ferrari and Marlboro have done a tremendous job because everyone has known since it first started that those barcodes represent Marlboro.
Philip Morris, the maker of Marlboro, has backed Ferrari and other Formula One teams for decades now. But a EU ban on tobacco advertising has seen the brand facing a difficult situation because Ferrari and Marlboro went into a ten-year contract in 2001 a time where cigarette branding was still allowed. The contract is said to be worth US$1 billion but Ferrari has always refused to disclose the figure. Well even if its not US1 billion, its still got to be a lot of money, such prominent branding on the most successful Formula One team ever will never come cheap. Ever.
John Britton, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and director of its tobacco advisory group, told the Times: “The bar code looks like the bottom half of a packet of Marlboro cigarettes. I was stunned when I saw it. This is pushing at the limits. If you look at how the bar code has evolved over the last four years, it looks like creeping branding.”
A spokesman for Ferrari told the newspaper: “The bar code is part of the livery of the car. It is not part of a subliminal advertising campaign.” A spokesman for Philip Morris said the deal complied with the law.
Ferrari is the only F1 team with a tobacco brand in its formal title – Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. Its official logo also features a bar code and its drivers wear overalls bearing the bar code next to the Ferrari logo.
Our verdict: Ferrari is going to have some answering to do pretty soon if the heat stays on this way. A few hundred million fine coming its way for promoting tobacco use? No way, never Ferrari, it just doesn’t work that way.
