Ferrari drops ‘Marlboro’ from official team name

2011 F1 season

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Scuderia Ferrari logo

Ferrari have changed their official team name from “Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro” to “Scuderia Ferrari”.

A Ferrari spokesperson told F1 Fanatic: “Philip Morris International and Ferrari have responded to recent concerns regarding the official Ferrari team name and have decided, effective immediately and worldwide, that ‘Marlboro’ will no longer be a part of the team name.

“Whilst we do not agree with the concerns raised, our decision has been taken in line with our history of responsiveness on similar issues and to avoid what would likely be an unnecessary and unproductive debate.”

Last month Ferrari extended its sponsorship deal with Philip Morris, owners of the Marlboro brand, to 2015.

The team changed the graphics used on its cars last year following claims it was designed to be visually similar to Marlboro’s branding.

2011 F1 season


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Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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41 comments on “Ferrari drops ‘Marlboro’ from official team name”

  1. ‘…so there!’

    Hopefully this will put the whole thing to rest once and for all.

  2. Good. Very good.

  3. Interesting… so how exactly do Marlboro gain from this arrangement now?

    1. They still own all the advertising space on the Ferrari cars.. up until 2015

      1. Hatebreeder
        9th July 2011, 7:01

        How does advertising space help when they arent allowed to put marlboro ad on the car?

        1. Look at the current logo – doesn’t it simply cry out Marlboro even if it isn’t written there?

          1. Exactly!

            At least this is a step in the right direction. Still disgusting that Ferrari sponsors tobacco.

          2. yeah, but still it looks like they are finally pulling out slowly.

        2. So that they can sell it to others with profit?

          1. That’s why Ferrari have very few sponsors.

        3. They sell that parts of that space to other advertisers for a higher price

    2. Because everyone is still talking about this and I don’t think anyone has forgotten, or will forget, the connection between the two.

    3. The ability to use the Scuderia Ferrari brand as part of their promotional activities, in ways that avoid the legislation most Western countries have in effect, and particularly in markets where promotion isn’t banned, or stringent.

  4. An ‘unproductive debate’ eh?

  5. Finally! In a world where cigarette advertising is banned, somehow Ferrari have been allowed to get away with it for years….

    1. Snow Donkey
      9th July 2011, 0:11

      Somehow I get the impression that if this was done right after signing a deal into 2015, this is pretty much the reaction when we’re not looking.

  6. our decision has been taken in line with our history of responsiveness

    I have to say I had a good laugh at this part, how many years is it since tobacco advertising was banned?

    I was never a big fan of sponsors being tacked onto team names, I hate the whole ‘we at Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes’ thing with a passion.

  7. “In order to preclude any possibility of being made to drop the new team logo device, which has proven very successful at raising brand profile in countries where Ferrari is a mainline to untapped markets of aspirational smokers, we’re dropping a name which never appeared anywhere that matters anyway”

    Fixed :)

  8. The art of drawing attention to something that doesn’t deserve any attention, seems to be still working.

    Oh no! I fell for it too!

  9. FINALLY…… I can enjoy a pack of “red apples” without feeling guilty that that their name is associated with Ferrari! :)

    1. fullthrottle
      9th July 2011, 3:06

      Now i can drive a ferrari without their name, wait…

  10. It looks like their maketing skill is always beyond of our awareness. Should be there’s something…

  11. As somebody else said on this site the last time the Marlboro sponsorship controversy flared up: “Why would Philip Morris associate themselves with a marque that makes noisy cars which catch fire?” :D

    1. I remember that… Whoever it was is a genius.

      1. Ever smoked an unlit cigarette? Don’t think so. So catching fire is a positive feature;).

  12. I didn’t mind “Marlboro” part of the name anyway, and the whole situation (and how little exposion it receives) seems a bit strange to me. Last year the there were much more loud objections but it didn’t make them change the name. This year the protests seem to be more subdued (not even real protests in fact). I wonder why did they actually do that this time?

  13. I couldn’t believe it when I first read it – I still can’t believe it! What’s happened to Ferrari? Are they trying to get some compliments to destract the media’s attention from their bad results?

  14. I can’t imagine Marlboro are too perturbed by this. Any damage done would be a result of losing the logo on the car etc…clearly they have confidence they can still make a profit, they will have seen this coming.

  15. Everyone, they dropped the Marlboro name ok everyone was making a big fuss of it let it cool now. Mclaren is part owned by Gaddaffis son. Or are they allowed to get away with it???

    Also suzuki motogp are sponsored by Rizla. But they are British so no one will complain.

    1. fullthrottle
      9th July 2011, 11:10

      Rizla it’s not tobacco, is rolling paper. That’s why nobody complain.

  16. It will always be there in our minds.
    And the tobacco manufacturers earn so much money, they need to spend some.
    Even if it’s so little promotion, it’s a good deal, else they will just need to pay more taxes, so they must spend their profits. This is a good way for them to stay connected in the slightest way.

    I don’t understand why they can’t put their logo’s on the car. Sure smoking is bad.. but via advertisement they invested in the economy BIG time… Maybe allow them to spend again might help all this crisis talk :D

  17. UKfanatic (@)
    9th July 2011, 11:55

    This option that Ferrari exploits wasnt ever banned, it was something always legal an all teams could profit from it, but no cigarrette company from philip morris group or others saw profit from other teams but Ferrari, who was the only one to survive.

  18. james allen didn’t get the memo.

  19. It’s sad really. People with too much free time ruin a tradition of Formula 1. Well, what can you do about it? Aside from the obvious, yet non-ethical solution of wishing them some smoking related illness.

  20. Now lets all get the alcohol companies off of the other cars……

  21. Ok, so moral victory for the anti smoking brigade.

    So I suppose its ok that we have Johnny Walker on the Mclaren (yeah enjoy it responsibly while youre at it), that Kingfisher owns a team!, Cuervo on the Sauber, Singha on the Red Bulls…

    Vice is vice, it doesnt matter what it is.

    Burger King had a run on the Saubers for a bit remember? Ever watch Super Size me..that stuff kills as much a ciggie does mate! and it causes a pretty ****** up addiction too..ask Morgan Sperlock!

    More people die from alcohol related disease than fags, more people end up killing themselves or mentally f$%king themselves up by gambling!…a lot more people die because they consume copious amounts of cheese!..but hey, its ok to advertise it!

    Im not sticking up for big tobacco, I just dont see the logic. Kids still smoke..so I guess it did a lot of good

    1. If I drink a can of lager, the guy sitting next to me doesn’t consume any alcohol.
      If I eat a cheesburger, the guy sitting next to me doesn’t ingest any calories.
      But if I smoke a cigarette, the guy sitting next to me does inhale the smoke.

      The message seems to be ‘if you’re doing it to yourself, fine, but not if you’re hurting other people’.

      1. Then why not give a Statutory warning on the cars itself “Smoking is injurious to health”…:)

  22. I dont know why tobacco brandings are not allowed. There is nothing common in road cars and F1 cars. When I am not gonna buy Pirelli tyres after watching their performance in F1 or a Ferrari / Renault / Mercedes powered car after watching their performance, wont buy a Megnetti Marreli electronics, I wont even buy a pack of Cigretts after watching their logo on the cars. Formula 1 teams need sponsors and we all know, tobacco companies pay a huge sum. When F1 teams dont find any worthy sponsors, they take PAY DRIVERS like Kartikeyan / maldonado to fund their teams which effectively make drivers like Hulkenberg sit out and oldies like Barichello continue.

    1. Maybe you won’t buy because it’s an f1 supplier.. BUT you do know all the brands now don’t you?
      That is brand awareness, what it is all about!
      And when you pop in a store you know the brands and in the end it might just be the one you buy :)

      I must admit in the old days, if I smoked, I used to go for Luckies also for the f1 support as a big F1 Fanatic :p

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