Way back in December 2017, TJ13 predicted that Ferrari would be racing with Marlboro logos again for the 2018 season after a huge $160 million per annum deal, and indeed we were proved correct as the suspiciously blank airbox cover eventually graced the Marlboro Esq Mission Winnow logo by the Japanese GP.

Philip Morris, owner of Marlboro and other tobacco products weren’t tardy with their eventual use of the purchased space on the team’s car and branding in 2018. The launch using the Japanese race was a deliberate timing exercise to avoid all the countries with the strictest tobacco advertising laws such as Australia and in Europe.

Japan has a rather lax approach to tobacco use compared to the West, to which has been used in the past promote new tobacco products such as IQOS, the e-cig by Marlboro that uses tobacco rather than liquid.

Now for 2019, the partnership between Ferrari and Philip Morris has included bigger logos on the car and team wear, plus the use of Mission Winnow in the team name registered for this season.

The plan might well come unstuck for Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow come to Australia in March. Australian authorities are investigating whether the team’s uniforms and livery could be in breach of tobacco advertising bans according to Fairfax Media owned newspapers such as the Canberra times.

Allegedly the federal Department of Health and Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services have launched investigations into Philip Morris’ new branding with regard to Mission Winnow. And Australian Communications and Media Authority has launched a separate investigation, after Network Ten and Foxtel broadcast the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix with Mission Winnow emblazoned on Ferrari’s cars.

“It has nothing to do with F1 cars, that’s for sure,” said Melbourne surgeon and anti-smoking campaigner John Cunningham

“Tobacco companies are finally admitting that their only means of financial survival is to get people addicted to nicotine, and they’re going to pour money into researching how to do that most effectively — not for the benefit of their addicted customers, but for the benefit of their profits and shareholders.”

Should the team be in breach of the Australian law, then they’ll have no choice but to either remove the Mission Winnow branding from all Ferrari material or not race in Melbourne.

This could also be the tip of the iceberg, if Australia sets the precedent, then we might well see other countries fall in line with similar bans of the team branding in Europe, Canada and the Americas.

The knock-on could well affect other series using the Mission Winnow advertising such as the Philip Morris sponsored Ducati MotoGP team, due to race in Australia in October 2019.

STORY UPDATED 8th FEBRUARY 2019

 

 

 

 

ORIGINAL STORY BELOW February 21, 2018

 

Ferrari confirms that the partnership with Marlboro’s parent company, the tobacco giant Philip Morris will continue, clearing the way for advertising the e-cigarette IQOS on the Ferrari’s of Vettel and Raikkonen.

TJ13 first brought this news to the attention of fans back in December 2017 after the current key sponsor, the Spanish bank Santander pulled the plug with Ferrari. It was rumoured in Maranello that the longtime partner Phillip Morris will likely step in, making up the shortfall.

The previous contract with Phillip Morris would have expired at the end of 2018. The Scuderia is silent about the new duration but Phillip Morris claims it’s until 2021.

It’s known to TJ13 that current spend per annum with Ferrari is in the region of €160 million despite zero advertising on the cars or team branding.

The reason? IQOS…

The brand message of Phillip Morris is ironically one of smoking cessation and this gives the decisive clue where Ferrari’s partnership goes when, on February 22, in Maranello, the new car is revealed – on the cars of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen for the e-cigarette IQOS will be advertised, albeit inconspicuously.

Phillip Morris themselves have issued a statement revealing:

“Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) and Scuderia Ferrari are extending their 40-year partnership successfully until 2021 and are realigning it. From now on, the collaboration focuses exclusively on getting closer to the goal of a smoke-free world.

“To achieve this goal, smokers should be convinced of a switch from cigarettes – and thus the most harmful form of nicotine consumption – to scientifically based, potentially less harmful alternatives.

“We want to give the world’s 1.1 billion smokers the chance to make better and more informed decisions, says PMI CEO André Calantzopoulos. We are committed to driving this revolutionary transformation forward with all the means at our disposal – including our motorsport activities – for adult smokers, public health and society at large. We really appreciate the support of Scuderia Ferrari in this matter.

“It is vital to raise awareness around the world about the opportunities innovation, science and technology bring to achieving a smoke-free future. In addition to PMI’s clear commitment to this goal, it is fundamental that governments, public health experts, academics and society as a whole face this challenge and help develop a reasonable regulatory framework. ”

Scuderia Ferrari is the perfect partner for achieving this goal, as the company always combines pioneering spirit, technology and innovation, and tirelessly pursues great goals. As part of the partnership, PMI, therefore, does not plan to place product-specific messages on the advertising media of Scuderia Ferrari.

Details about the messages, especially those on the cars of the Scuderia Ferrari, should be announced in the coming months.”

Couple this news with Ferrari’s recent alteration to their famous logo back in January, removing the Marlboro-esq. looking logo, the way is paved for a more modern branding to be incorporated into the Ferrari theme.

Despite all overt Tobacco advertising being banned from Formula One on a voluntary team basis as far back as 2006, the Italian marque still kept the Philip Morris owned Marlboro brand in their name. The last race we saw the Marlboro logo on a Ferrari F1 car was at the 2007 Chinese GP who’s tobacco advertising laws still allowed it at the time.

Unlike competing brands, Phillip Morris’s Marlboro IQOS does not vaporise any nicotine-containing liquid, but heats up real tobacco. As a result, the steam supposedly contains fewer pollutants than regular cigarette smoke.

Health authorities have already warned that the addictive potential is comparable to the consumption of cigarettes and the health issues are completely unknown.

IQOS was launched in 2014 – initially in Japan and Italy, in 2016 it was available in twenty countries. According to the tobacco company, three billion dollars were invested in the development of the product, and in 2017 IQOS is to contribute $ 700 million to the profits of Philip Morris.

The situation regarding the advertising ban for e-cigarettes is uneven worldwide. In UK and Germany, for example, e-cigarettes have been subject to a similarly strict advertising ban since 2016 as for conventional cigarettes – ie no advertising in print media, on radio, on television or even in the form of sports sponsorship.

In other countries, a distinction is made between electric cigarettes containing nicotine or not. Still, other countries have no advertising restrictions at all.