Autoblog

Health Canada clamps down on Targa Newfoundland over collectable Marlboro suit

Zach Bowman — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:44:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Classics, Government/Legal, Marketing/Advertising

We're sure you remember Zahir Rana, the gentleman who piloted a Ferrari Enzo into the Atlantic Ocean during last year's Targa Newfoundland. When the gentleman took his co-pilot and his car for a swim, he happened to be wearing a racing suit once worn by Rubens Barrichello. Back when the Formula One racer drove for Ferrari, the team was sponsored by Marlboro, which meant the cigarette company's logo was plastered all over the the suit. As it turns out, Health Canada takes a dim view of tobacco advertising during any racing event, and despite the fact that Rana had bought the signed suit at a charity auction as a piece of racing history, the government agency took offense to photos from the race depicting Rana in full Marlboro regalia.

According to Wheels.ca, Targa President Bob Giannou found himself on the raw end of phone calls and letters from Health Canada, informing him of "prohibitions regarding the promotion of tobacco products," even if the reference is historical.

Does that mean Canadian officials are going to block the public appearance of the hordes of vintage race cars sponsored by the likes of Rothmans, Marlboro, John Player Special, Camel, Lucky Strike, Kool and Skoal just to name a few? Like it or not, tobacco and racing have a long and storied history together, and attempting to censor that history from the public eye is downright foolish. Good luck, Health Canada.

Health Canada clamps down on Targa Newfoundland over collectable Marlboro suit originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lamborghini's Raging Bull logo to adorn cigarettes in South Korea

Noah Joseph — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 07:55:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Lamborghini

Stand at the business end of a Lamborghini doing a smokey burnout and you're bound to get a lung or two full of all kinds of noxious chemicals. But if a showboating Aventador isn't at your disposal, soon you'll be able to light up a Lamborghini cigarette.

The Raging Bull smokes are reportedly being launched by South Korean tobacco giant KT&G on April 18 in collaboration with (read: under license from) Tonino Lamborghini. The brand already offers an assortment of high-end cigarette lighters (like the one pictured at right), cases, ashtrays and other smoking paraphernalia.

Tonino Lamborghini, we should note, is a merchandising brand that - while founded by supercar and tractor guru Ferruccio Lamborghini's son and bearing a similar logo - has nothing more to do these days with the automaker than that. So if you find the correlation a bit too commercial, you'll just have to look to the models standing next to the company's supercars at any given auto show, the ones stepping out of them onto the curbs outside any city's hottest clubs or the temperature of their engine's cam covers for your official dose of Lamborghini-grade smokin' hotness.

Lamborghini's Raging Bull logo to adorn cigarettes in South Korea originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 10 Apr 2012 07:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Porsche Design hits new high water mark with stylish hookah pipe

Noah Joseph — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:01:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Porsche, Design/Style

Some might associated Porsche with speed. Others might equate the brand and its products a feeling of ecstasy. Of course, if the boys at Top Gear bought a used one from the '80s, they'd probably claim to find a certain powdery residue left on the dashboard. But the latest offering from the company's product design division, is a, um... well, it's a water pipe.

The Porsche Design Shisha is the latest addition to the brand's World Collection, which already includes such items as chopsticks and tea sets. The slick hookah pipe is made in Germany and stands nearly two feet tall with a hose made of TecFlex - the same material Porsche Design uses on a range of pens.

This decidedly Teutonic take on an age-old Middle Eastern device is available exclusively at the company's new shop at Harrods department store in London. The store was sold last year to the Qatari royal family, which in turn just happens to own 10 percent of Porsche. So if the production of the Cayenne didn't speak loudly enough as to which developing market Porsche was banking on, well... you can put that in your pipe and smoke it. Details in the press release after the jump.

Continue reading Porsche Design hits new high water mark with stylish hookah pipe

Porsche Design hits new high water mark with stylish hookah pipe originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scuderia Ferrari drops Marlboro from its name

Noah Joseph — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 09:07:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Marketing/Advertising, Ferrari

While cigarette-brand logos once adorned most of the Formula 1 cars on the grid, tobacco sponsorship in F1 has been banned for years. The last holdout was Ferrari, but even that's been scaled back to oblivion over the past few seasons.

As countries hosting races gradually banned tobacco advertising, Ferrari was forced to remove the Marlboro name and logo from its cars at some grands prix. Eventually, it was removed altogether in favor of the bar-code graphic that was, according to some, designed to evoke the Marlboro logo while skirting the sponsorship rules. Last year, even that was dropped after controversy erupted over the issue.

The last vestige of the collaboration between Ferrari and Philip Morris remained in the team's name, but reports now indicate that's over. The team is reverting from Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro to Scuderia Ferrari. This change comes after the two outfits recently announced a renewal of their contract, but you to wonder what Philip Morris is getting out of its multi-million-dollar sponsorship deal at this point, and by extension, how much longer it will last.

Scuderia Ferrari drops Marlboro from its name originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 10 Jul 2011 09:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ferrari renews deals with Marlboro, Puma

Noah Joseph — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:01:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Marketing/Advertising, Ferrari

Tobacco advertising has been banned from Formula One racing for several years now, but that doesn't appear to be deterring either Ferrari or Philip Morris. The two companies have just announced a renewal of their partnership over the team officially known as Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro through 2015.

Last year, Ferrari removed the bar-code logo off its car over allegations that it was a subliminal representation of the Marlboro logo, replacing it with the new logo pictured at right. But while the Marlboro name and logo may not appear on the cars or anything else officially associated with the team, the Marlboro name - one of Philip Morris' best-known tobacco brands - is officially part of the team's name.

Speculation that the sponsorship deal could be shifted to one of Kraft's various brands drew to a close when Philip Morris was spun off in 2008, leaving only tobacco and wines under its own umbrella.

Around the same time, Ferrari has also renewed its merchandising deal with Puma. The sportswear company will continue producing branded sportswear and shoes with the Ferrari logo, as well as providing the flame-retardant suits which Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa wear on the track.

Follow the jump for the brief announcement on the former and the longer one on the latter.

Continue reading Ferrari renews deals with Marlboro, Puma

Ferrari renews deals with Marlboro, Puma originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ferrari addresses criticism over Marlboro sponsorship

Noah Joseph — Sun, 02 May 2010 17:35:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Marketing/Advertising, Ferrari

2010 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro F10 - Click above for high-res image gallery

Ferrari has found itself at the center of controversy once again as pundits have accused the Scuderia of subliminal advertising of tobacco products through its longstanding partnership with Philip Morris International, producer of Marlboro cigarettes.

Historically, tobacco advertising has been commonplace in motorsports, F1 in particular. Imperial Tobacco's Gold Leaf brand started off sponsoring the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, leading a trend that would see tobacco companies sponsoring teams and races for decades to come. British American Tobacco went so far as to field its own cars - the British American Racing team that later became Honda, then Brawn GP and now races under the Mercedes GP banner. For several years, Marlboro (like Santander today) sponsored both McLaren and Ferrari, before concentrating its efforts on the Scuderia. By the late 1990s, however, European countries in particular began outlawing tobacco advertising in sports, leading to the withdrawal (no pun intended) of most major tobacco companies from Formula One. Williams became the first major team to run without cigarette branding in 2000, and since then all the major tobacco companies have pulled out of the sport, with the notable exception of Philip Morris.

Like other teams had initially, Ferrari continues to run livery on its F1 cars that - in compliance with European regulations - doesn't explicitly include the name of its sponsor. The brand continues, however, to be part of the team's name (known officially as Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro in a deal reportedly worth $1 billion), and over the years the Marlboro logo has grown increasingly abstract on the livery to the point that today it's little more than a red, white and black bar-code. Although the team had, until a couple of years ago, run with the Marlboro name on the cars in overseas races where regulations permitted tobacco advertising, since 2008 Ferrari has run only with the bar-code logo.

British pundits, however, say the abstraction is not enough, pointing to the bar-code and even the team's use of the color red as subliminal advertising of the team's title sponsor. Ferrari has released a statement refuting the charges, saying the bar-code logo has not been scientifically proven to be subliminal advertising, and that the red livery has been integral to the team since its inception and the dawn of motorsports. Follow the jump for Ferrari's argument and judge for yourself.

[Source: Ferrari]

Continue reading Ferrari addresses criticism over Marlboro sponsorship

Ferrari addresses criticism over Marlboro sponsorship originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 02 May 2010 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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