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Todt backs calls for ban on tobacco sponsorship

Published on 16 Mar 2019 11:17
8
By: Harry Mattocks

The president of the FIA, Jean Todt has backed calls for Formula 1 to ban all sponsorship by tobacco manufacturers.

The calls by the WHO (World Health Organisation) come after two teams have announced partnerships with tobacco producers. Ferrari carry the branding of Mission Winnow (a Phillip Morris brand) and McLaren recently announced a partnership with British American Tobacco (BAT) under the guise of "A Better Tomorrow).

Due to the tight regulations in Australia, both teams have removed their corresponding logo's from their cars for the grand prix this weekend in Melbourne.

“WHO is urging governments to enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship at sporting events, including when hosting or receiving broadcasts of Formula 1 and Moto GP events,” it said in a statement.

“WHO also urges all sporting bodies, including Formula 1 and Moto GP, to adopt strong tobacco free policies that ensure their events are smoke-free and their activities and participants, including race teams, are not sponsored by tobacco companies.”

The WHO specifically named PMI and BAT’s F1 sponsorship campaigns.

“British American Tobacco (BAT) recently announced ‘a new global partnership’ with the Formula 1 team McLaren using the logo ‘a better tomorrow’. In making this announcement, BAT indicated that the multi-year partnership will provide a global platform to drive greater resonance of certain products, including glo, a heated tobacco product. This statement suggests that the company’s intent is to promote tobacco use.

“In the case of Philip Morris International (PMI), the company has created a new logo (Mission Winnow) to be carried by Ferrari on cars, and Ducati on motorbikes, that previously carried branding for the cigarette brand Marlboro. PMI has also registered the Mission Winnow logo as a trademark, including for use with respect to tobacco products. Ducati carried this branding at a recent Moto GP.”

They also called for governments to use the "strongest possible ways" to prevent this kind of sponsorship in any sport.

Todt said: “Since many years tobacco advertising is forbidden. So I mean I completely support WHO position. There’s little more we can say on that.

“But we are aligned very closely with the WHO, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus the director general of the WHO, we are aligned with their position.”

Mansell

Posts: 104

But he still took the phillip morris money when he was at ferrari so you can't talk Jean,

2
Mar 16 2019 - 14:01

F1 News Ferrari McLaren

Replies (8)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
It's already banned, you guys just weren't enforcing said ban properly. Typical lazy non-statement from Todt.
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- Mar 16 2019 - 11:29
- Ram Samartha
  
  Posts: 1,172
  That's the point innit? PMI = Tobacco Company = NOT ALLOWED. Full stop. Same for BAT. It doesn't really bother me but rules is rules. I'm an ex-smoker and believe that people have the choice to do it if it's available. I'm more for a world-wide ban on tobacco, a ban on advertising it doesn't do anything really.
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  Mar 16 2019 - 17:30
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  It is, which is why I find this to be such a non-statement. Todt, in his usual way, always manage to come off so reluctant to do or say anything, so he always go with the most cookie cutter corporate answer, only to usually don't sort out the issue until it is pressed. As for marketing not doing anything to sell a product, well marketing is there to sell it. And I think marketing impacts us more than we think: many tobacco users do in fact prefer certain tobacco brands merely by what they are associated with, and this is a major advantage of Marlboro, being associated with both McLaren and Ferrari historically. It might not necessarily impact total amount of use, but it could sway tobacco users into choosing their brand over others. Maybe you don't get swayed by it, but chances are marketing in general don't affect your choices in general either, meaning you or me ain't targets.
  + 0
  
  Mar 16 2019 - 18:02
- Ram Samartha
  
  Posts: 1,172
  I don't know if you were ever a smoker or not but I and my friends always went for taste and smoothness of the smoke not image or marketing hype.
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  Mar 16 2019 - 21:12
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  Oh please... Again with the banning. Listen, if you really care about health, then ban alcohol. That kills more people directly and indirectly than any other controlled substance. Of course that will never happen, but it's hypocritical to ban tobacco on grounds of health
  + 0
  
  Mar 16 2019 - 21:15
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  @Ram Not really. I've had a cig or so every now and then at parties, but my time as a labrat have given me enough reasons to not really pursue smoking. However, I can say that in other regards I prefer certain brands over others. For an example: I always go for PCs with Intel CPUs, despite AMD getting pretty handy (and cheaper) nowadays, and I prefer certain Jeans brands over others. If I can prefer some computer component brand over others, Im certain some people can get affected by the brands associated with certain favourite teams. I know for certain that JPS cigarettes are pursued solely based on their association with Lotus, so there are evidence out there that some individuals are in fact affected by it. We aren't, but we are perhaps not the target demographic.
  
  @AJPP maybe, maybe not, but my main point wasn't about the ban itself, as much as it was about Todt making yet another non-statement and about the FIA not really enforcing the rules they've set up until push comes to shove.
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  Mar 16 2019 - 22:08
denis1304

Posts: 284
who starts smoking because of advertising? how mentally suggestive do you have to be?
Only effect after ban on advertising tobacco was bigger profits in tobacco industry
- + 0
- Mar 16 2019 - 13:36
Mansell

Posts: 104
But he still took the phillip morris money when he was at ferrari so you can't talk Jean,
- + 2
- Mar 16 2019 - 14:01