Singha back Red Bull, but for how long?
Could alcohol sponsors face a tobacco-style ban?
Mixing Red Bull and beer might not sound like a good idea, but the team has joined Brawn in announcing a new alcohol sponsor.
Thai brand Singha will put its logos on Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel’s race suits and cars for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
But alcohol sponsorship deals in F1 could soon come under threat. Last week the British Medical Association called for a ban on alcohol brands sponsoring sporting events.
Could alcohol advertising soon go the same way as tobacco advertising? If it did the impact would likely not be as great – many F1 teams had tobacco brands as title sponsors in the mid-nineties, but non of them have alcohol brands as title sponsors today.
Today the only F1 team with a tobacco sponsor is Ferrari, whose official name on the FIA entry list is Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. They are responsible for the barcode design on the F60′s airbox and rear wing.
Other alcohol sponsors currently active in F1 include Johnnie Walker (McLaren), Kingfisher (Force India, also an airline brand) and Brawn’s new sponsor for the Brazilian Grand Prix, Itaipava.
Alcohol and motor racing could be seen as a particularly poor match given the strong laws against drink-driving. Johnnie Walker address this by using Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen in their campaigns against drink-driving.
Do you think alcohol sponsors should be allowed in F1?
Press release
Red Bull Racing announces Race Partner
More Singha for Suzuka
Even though we are owned by an energy drink company, we recognise the value of a good beer. Red Bull Racing is therefore pleased to announce that existing supplier, Singha Beer, the longest established beer from Thailand, is increasing its support of the team for the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix, by upgrading to ‘Race Partner’.
The expanded relationship will see the Singha logo appear on the RB5 cars and on the drivers’ race suits over the Grand Prix weekend at Suzuka.
Voravud Bhirombhakdi, Strategic Partnership and Event Manager of Singha Corporation and the fourth generation of the Singha family commented: “Singha Corporation has long been the biggest supporter of Thailand’s motorsport. Becoming a Race Partner with Red Bull Racing will place Singha on the international motorsport scene, which is in line with the company’s international market expansion.”
the Sri lankan said on 18th September 2009, 23:41
at the end of the day if people want to drink or smoke it’s going to happen. period!
Gusto said on 19th September 2009, 4:52
Asbestos is a bigger killer than cigarettes. But they dont tell you that!
Gman said on 19th September 2009, 5:12
I must say that I disagree with the vast majority of you….I absolutley LOVE it that tobacco sponsorship is banned/discouraged from F1 and other motor sports. I hate smoking and everything about it, and the further we move towards snuffing it out completely, the happier I become:)
Here in America, we’ve made good progress- no more “cool” figures such as Joe Camel or the Marlboro Man, and no magazine ads or billboards. We’ve also got the warnings on the sides of the pack- ours come from the Surgeon General, who is sort of the national doctor- and TV advers have been long gone, I was born in 1986 and have never seen one in my life!!
I’ll be the first to tell you that I would NEVER be as comitted to the sport today if tobacoc was still featured like it was in the 80′s and 90′s- McLaren would never have gotten a number of my hard-earned dollars for some shirts/hats/jackets/etc.. if they had West or Marlboro instead of Vodafone. It’s the same thing that stops me from buying any Ducati merchandise despite being a big Nicky Hayden fan…
So in short, yes- keep tobacco banned!1 And as I said in an earlier post, get better designers if the current ones can’t build a good livelry without tobacco.
Gman said on 19th September 2009, 5:18
As for the achohol, I don;t view that as nearly bad as tobacco, as I’ve always taken it that achohol in moderation is a good thing. But since I see so much of NASCAR, I can say that that series has moved with F1 away from tobacco, but has become more open to achohol…
In terms of driver, team sponsorship, beer is very visible in the sport, with Miller getitng plenty of plugs with Kurt Busch, and Bud getitng big exposure with Dale Jr. and now Kasey Kane. In fact, the sport went towards more drinks with allowing hard liquer brands such as Jack Daniels and Jim Beam back in. Still, some are censored in the same manner as the McLaren/Jonny Walker stuff you mentioned….in all the NASCAR video games the achohol sponsosrs are blurted out.
Gusto said on 19th September 2009, 5:25
Arrgh Hell, if it dont give ya cancer, it aint no fun.
Prisoner Monkeys said on 19th September 2009, 5:47
I don’t see why alochol branding is a problem, and I think the call for its ban is a byproduct of an overly politically-correct scoiety. These advocates are like environemntalists who think that humans should all give up modern life and go back to living in trees, or militant feminists who think the only way women can be happy is by living as man-hating separatist lesbians.
Cockney James Hunt said on 19th September 2009, 8:07
Alcohol, when consumed in moderation, can be beneficial to ones health. Smoking, in whatever circumstances you care to mention, is unhealthy and potentially lethal if consumed regulary, regardless of how responsibly it’s imbibed. That’s the difference. I see nothing wrong with a little booze on F1 cars. Now, whose round is it, I’ll have a single malt.
rob ijbema said on 19th September 2009, 20:29
cheers!
Gman said on 20th September 2009, 3:51
Exactly!!!
Steph90 said on 19th September 2009, 10:18
Forgetting how bad for your health they are; they are both legal to have if you want and we are meant to lvie in a democracy. I hate, hate cigarettes but if people want to do that then that is fine, if the companies want to give money to teams and the teams accept then that is their choice. I’m not going to dictate to others just because I don’t like something, smokers know it’s bad for their health but it’s up to them.
johnny five said on 19th September 2009, 10:27
Governments are being sooo hypocritical. If alcohol / tobacco / mobile phone use or whatever is somehow bad enough to merit a ban on it being advertised, they should be prepared to ban the product. If they don’t have the guts to do that, then they should let it be advertised.
Where’s the logic in banning the advert and allowing the product? Which does the harm?
Matt said on 19th September 2009, 10:29
The idea that people see the name and want to take up smoking is crap. IF they decide to buy some cigarettes and they see the brands in front of them and they recognise one, then they would be more likely to buy that because they know the name. But just the name by itself means nothing.
I doubt that anyone sees the AMD logo on the Ferrari and feels the urge to go and buy a new computer. But if they do go looking in the future, they will recognise the logo
Before reading this article I didn’t know what the hell Kingfisher actually sold and it didn’t make me want to go buy some booze.
When I was growing up the rugby league here in Australia was sponsored by Winfield. It never made me want to buy smokes… in fact to this day whenever I see or hear the name Winfield I immediately of rugby league
Steph90 said on 19th September 2009, 11:34
Johnny Five because government’s tend to get tax from cigarettes and alcohol, so they’ll never ban them when they can make money just stop sponsorship so no-one else can benefit.
johnny five said on 19th September 2009, 11:53
Steph90: So the more cigarettes and alcohol get sold, the more tax they make? Heck, on that basis, they should be encouraging advertising of any sort, not looking to ban it.
Steph90 said on 19th September 2009, 12:28
Well in Britain anyway the goverment gets tax on cigarettes and alcohol and quite a lot too. That’s why it is so annoying.
Baz said on 19th September 2009, 14:36
If we’re going to go down this road of banning alcohol advertising because of the health issues then why not also ban F1 and motorsport in general. After all, how many people have become alcoholics and died from liver problems because of alcohol advertising in sport? Now how many deaths on the road have there been because someone thought they were Nigel Mansell?
“I’d like to thank Frank Williams” ;-)
Aaron said on 19th September 2009, 15:21
Alcohol is by far the WORST drug in the world BAR none…
Ban the drug before the advertising if they are serious, if not it’s a legal product so they should be allowed to have it on the car etc.
Martin said on 21st September 2009, 2:38
Thank you.
I believe if it is legal for you to purchase then it should be legal to advertise in any way shape or form. If it is so hoorible a product then make it illegal to sell or posess. Oh we tried that in the early 1900′s and got organised crime for our virtuous morals.