Ferrari Mission Winnow livery revealing, Suzuka, 2018

Ferrari reveals new ‘Mission Winnow’ livery in Japan

2018 Japanese Grand Prix

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Ferrari has revealed a portion of the new livery it will run from this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix carrying the logo of Mission Winnow, a joint promotion with major sponsor Philip Morris International.

The tobacco product manufacturer is unable to promote many of its brands on Ferrari’s cars due to advertising restrictions. Mission Winnow is a project the two companies have launched “to create engagement around the role of science, technology and innovation as a powerful force for good in any industry”, according to a statement from PMI.

Ferrari previously carried the branding of PMI’s cigarette brand Marlboro. After growing regional bans on cigarette advertising led most F1 teams to sever their links with tobacco producers at the end of 2006, Ferrari’s association with Marlboro continued.

In 2010 the team changed its livery mid-season following claims the graphics featured on its cars were intended to promote the brand. The following year Ferrari removed ‘Marlboro’ from its official team name. However PMI retained promotional rights to Ferrari’s livery and has used its drivers and cars to advertising its tobacco products in regions where it remains legal.

PMI CEO André Calantzopoulos said: “We will use this global platform as a window into the new PMI and to challenge preconceptions, as we know there are many who may have doubts about us and our motivations.

“Our partnership with Scuderia Ferrari gives us the opportunity to build on many encouraging individual conversations with critics and supporters alike and reach out to a broad audience to engage at scale.”

Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene is a former vice-president of Marlboro. The team’s current deal with PMI runs until 2021.

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Ferrari Mission Winnow livery, Suzuka, 2018
Ferrari Mission Winnow livery, Suzuka, 2018

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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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56 comments on “Ferrari reveals new ‘Mission Winnow’ livery in Japan”

  1. Joaquin Correa
    4th October 2018, 5:19

    Seems like the logo is the Marlboro M both in normal position and mirrored at the bottom. Clever subliminal advertising.

  2. Meh! Looked better before.

  3. Geniuses! The livery looks constellated with packs of marlboro cigarettes now. All with the pretense of doing good.
    Pure genius!

    1. The livery looks constellated with packs of marlboro cigarettes now

      How?

      1. Turn your screen 90 degrees counter clockwise.

      2. Modo of logos are M , inverted M (W), and N, resembling the marlboro logo.

      3. The chevron shape is based on the Marlboro fag packet dotted around the car. Its called subliminal advertising, which is illegal. But hey, its Ferrari and money allows you to do anything you want.

    2. literally covered of marlboro packs
      This one was a bit more subtle, the side opening of a marlboro pack:
      https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d3/b2/64/d3b26411d75556a25619df7f0e42cc66.jpg

    3. Pretty sad how they keep coming up with new ways to promote ppl throwing away their health and a boatload om money on citarettes.

      1. Yes, that and the fact that cigarette butts do not biodegrade but smokers keep throwing them away everywhere like they’re going to magically disappear. Pretty low morals IMHO.

    4. Trying to see it… Can you enlighten us? I’m a bit slow this morning… I mean I get the red and white part, and maybe the crest in the W, but that’s about it.

      1. Oh wait I see it now, sideways, if you look at the leading edge of the airbox…

  4. Hakk The Rack
    4th October 2018, 7:07

    New livery? I see new logo only? Is that all?

    1. Too right. They just added a sponsor. What a load of rubbish!
      By this account, pretty much every team changed liveries this season.

      The clever part is no other team got multiple articles about them essentially just promoting a new brand!

      If only Ferrari were as clever with race strategies as they are with marketing strategies!

    2. when they call it a new livery, websites fall for it and give it free press, @eurobrun.

      I wish this blog/website would have kept quiet on this no news.
      Never too late to delete these non-articles, @keithcollantine.

      1. At best, this is a poor caption competition!

  5. Hakk The Rack
    4th October 2018, 7:08

    New livery? I see new logo only. Is that all?

  6. Will it go faster than before?

    1. No, but it’ll smoke even more.

      1. Actually it stopped smoking for a few races and it’s now slower… does smoking make you faster? in a Ferrari yes it does !

        1. Actually they smoked their championship chances already.

      2. @saturnvf1 Chortle! (cough, splutter)

  7. Not sure how to link from twitter, but be sure to check out Honda Racing F1’s tweet to ferrari over this, brilliant

    1. I think you meant this tweet?

    2. First thing I thought of too. Surely someone at Ferrari/PM must have noticed?

  8. That’s probably one of the worst logos I’ve ever seen!

  9. Mission Win Now? :D

    1. Haha, like what was their mission before this?

    2. Awesome 😁

    3. Fudge Kobayashi (@)
      4th October 2018, 10:06

      Lmao

    4. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
      4th October 2018, 10:14

      Wishin’ Minnow

  10. At first glance it looked like a letter H to me – Ahh – just spotted Matts post above mine here – perhaps I’m not alone ;)

  11. I miss the old Tobacco sponsor liveries.

    Gave the sport an edge.

    This sounds like something dreamed up by a social media ‘influencer’ in their basement.

    1. JPS Lotus 72 – gorgeous :)

  12. That’s about as visually appealing as an average 2014 car nose. Nicer than the Caterham, but that’s about it.

    But the marketing guff is of an excellent standard. Really leaves the reader in absolutely no doubt that they have absolutely no idea what ‘Mission Winnow’ actually is.

    1. Funnily enough, neither does Google know what exactly mission Win-now is. Maybe a euphemism for Seb’s title hopes?

      Brilliant marketing though. Now we are all wondering how a tobacco company has made itself better through science and all that.

      BTW the jury is out on e-cigs, the nicotine hit is still not good and probably still carcinogenic, but at least they have the benefit of being ahead of the research curve. Academics will need to wait for the cancer to start 30 years from now and then try to pin it on something…

  13. Why would any company want to be associated with PMI or the like? Mission Winnow or not.. that’s just an attempt of being slightly proactive so governing bodies don’t interfere since it seems you are taking action yourself (100% seen as cost of acquisition internally at PMI. It’s pure PR)
    “…as we know there are many who may have doubts about us and our motivations”. What doubt? We all know you are deliberately killing people for money. Maybe another team can get sponsored by a terrorist group or so, although they kill far less people than cigarettes

  14. Why would any company want to be associated with PMI or the like?

    There is 100 million reason for that.

  15. very sporting of Ferrari to promote Honda…

  16. From the Dictionary:

    Winnow – Verb

    1. blow a current of air through (grain) in order to remove the chaff.
    2. Remove (people or things) from a group until only the best ones are left.

    Not sure i’d be happy with those connotations if I were Kimi…

  17. I liked the rear wing better when the section between the end plates was entirely red (or white with the Santander logo).

  18. Green really looks good on a Ferrari /s

  19. We all know it’s just a made up mission statement because the M and W mimic the Marlboro chevron. That’s why both words are italic.

    Turn your screen 90 degrees anticlockwise to see the marlboro logo.

    This type of subliminal nonsense should be illegal, if not from a pure qualitative standpoint. Ateast the bargraph logo of years gone made no subversion of it representing Marlboro.

    Mission Winnow, right, the whole charade and statement is condescending to our intellect and cognitive ability.

  20. I read it as Mission Minnow at first, which sounds like what other once-great teams Williams and McLaren have (unfortunately) been making great strides towards in recent years.

  21. Is PMI in any way allowed to use pictures of thes cars to promote their brand?
    Otherwise i fail to see what they will get out of this “clever” marketing.

  22. I may be being a bit thick but what is Mission Winnow? Also calling it a ‘new livery’ is pushing it a little. It’s a sponsor, calm down Ferrari.

  23. Purely for scientific purposes, i just showed these pictures to a colleague who doesn’t follow Formula 1 to see if they could identify the brand, they identified it as Marlboro in under 5 seconds. So, congratulations to the marketing team.

    1. Is that what it is? Wow I’m slow.

    2. That is interesting.
      I’m 59 years old and am well aware of the Marlboro branding but for the life of me I can not see it in this logo.
      Perhaps I’m not trying hard enough.

      1. Should have gone to spec savers.

      2. @nullapax – As a photo and graphics guy what sticks out to me is the repeating of their oft implemented red on white v-shape pattern used to form the M letters mirrored in particular. Funny how the eye/mind can associate colors and shapes, especially when viewed hundreds or thousands of times before. Their marketing and design departments excel in the subliminal.

        The red shape in the linked image below is merely reworked repeatedly to achieve the “mission winnow”.

        https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSsvIOzlUctbPzsgxfnXKF_5u1XhJtCIbPQv6floA-VDs-kQfT2

  24. “A powerful force for good in any industry.”

    Get out of here with your sickening hippocracy.

    I’ve officially started hating Ferrari because of this.

    We all know it’s just a made up mission statement because the M and W mimic the Marlboro chevron. That’s why both words are italic.

    Turn your screen 90 degrees to see the Marlboro logo. And the chevron on the rear of the fin.

    This type of subliminal nonsense should be illegal, if not from a pure qualitative standpoint. Sickening, talentless, cheap, lowclass liars.

    At least the bargraph logo of years gone by made no subversion of it representing Marlboro.

    Atleast when it actually said “Marlboro” it just said “Marlboro” and made no lie about it.

    Mission Winnow, “a force for good”, sickening hippocracy. The whole charade and statement is condescending to our intellect and cognitive ability.

    Peddling cancer and claiming you are: “a force for good” to line your pockets. Hippocrite scum. Do you think we are stupid?

  25. The Marlboro man
    restless in his grave
    jarred awake by
    a red car rushing by
    smoke trails fly
    winnowing chaff
    from the wheat
    dead from the live

    – 2018 bull mello (F1 poet at large)

  26. Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
    5th October 2018, 8:56

    Can’t wait to see this get banned as well.
    Go away, PMI

  27. Marlboro logo??? at 90 degrees anti-clockwise??? really guys your stretching it

Comments are closed.