Filed under: Motorsports, Government/Legal, Marketing/Advertising
A European lobby group has called for the end of alcohol sponsorship in Formula One, issuing an open letter to FIA president Jean Todt.
According to the letter published by the European Alcohol Policy Alliance, drunk driving accounted for 6,500 deaths (or 25 percent of road deaths) across Europe in 2010. Based on those numbers, and drawing a direct (if rather tenuous) correlation between drunk driving and alcohol sponsorship in motor racing, the organization known as Eurocare is calling on the FIA to ban liquor companies from sponsoring F1 teams and events.
Currently the Williams team is sponsored by Martini, Force India by Smirnoff and McLaren by Johnnie Walker, which was also recently named the official whisky of the sport. Out of deference to (if not compliance with) the ban on consuming alcohol under Sharia law, most teams remove any liquor logos when racing in Muslim countries (where the champagne traditionally sprayed and drank on the podium is also typically replaced with a non-alcoholic substitute like rosewater).Currently the Williams team is sponsored by Martini, Force India by Smirnoff and McLaren by Johnnie Walker.
Banning those and other liquor brands from sponsoring the teams and advertising track-side at races would come at a rather difficult time for the series in which several teams are struggling financially. Eurocare addresses the issue, noting that F1 did recover from the ban of tobacco advertising, which was previously a huge contributor to the bottom line of teams like Ferrari (Marlboro), McLaren (West), Lotus (JPS) and Honda (British American Tobacco).
A recent op-ed similarly called for the end of sponsorship by energy drink brands like Red Bull and Monster Energy, which support countless racing teams across numerous racing disciplines.
Of course Formula One isn't the only form of motorsport where alcohol advertising is prevalent. NASCAR and IndyCar have had checkered histories with alcohol companies advertising in their series, the former's second-tier championship famously having been known as the Busch Series after the beer label - while the top-tier series was known as the Winston Cup after RJ Reynolds cigarette brand. Both series have since been renamed for less controversial sponsors Nationwide Insurance and Sprint telecom. The American Le Mans Series was similarly title-sponsored by Patrón tequila before it merged into the United SportsCar Championship, sponsored by watchmaker Tudor.
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European lobby group calls for end of alcohol sponsorship in F1 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 13 Nov 2014 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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