No Smoking Please - Big Tobacco"s Long Exit From Motorsports
It wasn't long ago that race fans couldn't watch motorsports without seeing overt sponsorships by major cigarette brands.
There was the Winston Cup, NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series and teams names like the Kool Green Team and Skoal Bandit Team.
While it seemed at the time that tobacco companies could have easily bought out an entire track of race cars if they so desired, the good times for big tobacco in motorsports soon came to an end, just like all other successful advertising initiatives by the industry.
As the dislike of the tobacco industry intensified and the people increasingly called for action, the rules of advertising began to change to favor public opinion.
Despite a federal ban on tobacco advertising on TV from the early '70s, sponsorship of motorsports had allowed cigarette companies to effectively achieve the equivalent of paid TV advertising and in a timeslot when viewers were most vulnerable - while enjoying their favorite past time.
The 1998 Master Settlement Agreement in the US changed all that.
Not only did the cigarette companies agree to pay $368.
5 billion over 25 years to 47 states, but sponsorships were also put to an end so as to discourage recruitment of new smokers to replace others who die or otherwise quit.
The European Union, in its 2003 Tobacco Advertising Directive, also threw down the gauntlet.
Big Tobacco could no longer advertise and sponsor "with the aim or direct or indirect effect of promoting a tobacco product".
Today, 168 countries have embraced the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which in effect does the same thing.
Although with grace periods over and laws against them fully in effect, cigarette companies have of course still managed to find ways to get their message across through motorsports.
The recent 2010 Marlboro-Ferrari barcode kerfuffle is one such instance.
There was the Winston Cup, NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series and teams names like the Kool Green Team and Skoal Bandit Team.
While it seemed at the time that tobacco companies could have easily bought out an entire track of race cars if they so desired, the good times for big tobacco in motorsports soon came to an end, just like all other successful advertising initiatives by the industry.
As the dislike of the tobacco industry intensified and the people increasingly called for action, the rules of advertising began to change to favor public opinion.
Despite a federal ban on tobacco advertising on TV from the early '70s, sponsorship of motorsports had allowed cigarette companies to effectively achieve the equivalent of paid TV advertising and in a timeslot when viewers were most vulnerable - while enjoying their favorite past time.
The 1998 Master Settlement Agreement in the US changed all that.
Not only did the cigarette companies agree to pay $368.
5 billion over 25 years to 47 states, but sponsorships were also put to an end so as to discourage recruitment of new smokers to replace others who die or otherwise quit.
The European Union, in its 2003 Tobacco Advertising Directive, also threw down the gauntlet.
Big Tobacco could no longer advertise and sponsor "with the aim or direct or indirect effect of promoting a tobacco product".
Today, 168 countries have embraced the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which in effect does the same thing.
Although with grace periods over and laws against them fully in effect, cigarette companies have of course still managed to find ways to get their message across through motorsports.
The recent 2010 Marlboro-Ferrari barcode kerfuffle is one such instance.
