Ferrari change Marlboro barcode design

Posted on

| Written by

Ferrari's changed Marlboro design

Ferrari have responded to criticism of their Marlboro ‘barcode’ by changing the design.

The space on the car is now predominantly red with a white box outline. The team said they hope they change will “put an end to this ridiculous story”.

The team issued a statement saying:

Together with Philip Morris International we have decided to modify the livery of our cars starting with the Barcelona Grand Prix.

This decision was taken in order to remove all speculation concerning the so-called “bar code” which was never intended to be a reference to a tobacco brand.

By this we want to put an end to this ridiculous story and concentrate on more important things than on such groundless allegations.
Ferrari statement

Does changing the look of the design answer the criticism of their sponsorship by a tobacco firm?

Or is this just another way of getting around the restrictions on tobacco advertising to draw attention to their identity as ‘Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’?

Have your say in the comments.

Read more: Criticism of Ferrari Marlboro barcode prompts outburst from Montezemolo

Ferrari's revised Marlboro design

Author information

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...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

122 comments on “Ferrari change Marlboro barcode design”

  1. that looks alot better now. more red is better on a ferrari. lets see what it looks like on the race track!

    1. lol all this does is make people say “Marlboro ” and “Cigarrets” over and over again, these people must be friends with Steve Jobs from Apple.

      1. The fact is that all this press has just made everyone realize that it is Malboro who didn’t know already. Making this whole campaign just a big publicity stunt for Malboro instead of banning the advertising like they were trying to do.

        1. José Baudaier
          7th May 2010, 1:21

          Exactly, this is all Malboro ever wanted, more publicity for free.

          1. Yeah I totally agree with what TommyB says.

            Any publicity is good publicity. The conspiracy theorist in me would like to think that Phillip Morris may have kicked off this whole debate, payed a bunch of doctors to make comments in the press, just to make sure that people realize that it really is Marlboro livery on the scarlet cars!

            Maybe its a rebranding exercise for Marlboro? If you’re a Marlboro smoker, think back a couple years, just about when the tobacco ban was coming in to F1, Marlboro started the loyalty program, that involved picking up a barcode strip in each pack. Eventually, the barcode became synonynous with the brand.

            So, when you go down to you local shop to buy a pack fags next week, dont’ be surprised to see a new limited edition Marlboro livery (a red box with white outlines) on its packs!!

            When it comes to advertising and brand marketing, nothing beats Marlboro, they’re geniuses!!

          2. Seriously, who’s gonna smoke because of a “red box” ?

          3. I see your point, Jose, but their presence in F1 is costing them FAR from “free”. :D

    2. lol nah. looks stupid with a white box like that. Now how is it the M logo looks like.
      a white box around a red area with a “roof” on it and the name in the white area above the “roof”. Ohh so the we are missing the top of the M logo on the car now. Marketing people working overdrive someone is grinning all the way to the bank (still). So much free press and advertisement. Score.

      1. doh I inverted the log. white bottom, red top is the right way.

        1. well you have to realize that a lot of Marlboro Cigarette boxes have the picture of F1 cars on them… so the connection can be made form the opposite angle… or is the EU going to ban advertising F1 cars on Cigarette Boxes?

          EU health directive: F1 Cars can be dangerous to your health… F1 is addictive, especially if you follow F1Fanantic.co.uk… LOL

          1. Hahaha!! I wouldn’t put it passed them!

  2. Man, the box on the back of that car makes me want to start smoking…..

    1. i’ve literally just rolled a cigarette after reading this article!

    2. bad_whippet
      6th May 2010, 17:49

      It does look more like a pack of fags now doesn’t it, lol!

      I’m off for a quick smoke…

    3. I just bought a pack! The empty space made me realize that something was missing in my life… so I’m taking up smoking now!

      1. KeldenButton
        7th May 2010, 1:16

        BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

      2. NomadIndian
        7th May 2010, 6:46

        Keith, all these comments on your blog are promoting smoking… You better change the site layout or something… :)

        1. Smokes dont need to be promoted…it sells itself.

          Ever though how people still smoke when its almost impossible to smoke anywhere and there literally is no “legal” tobacco advertising allowed?

          Its a vice…and vices dont need promotion..they always sell itself

  3. Looks different , i miss it :(

    1. Ya, I kinda got pretty used to the cool bar code thingy.

  4. I never really liked the look of any of the various barcode designs used through the years, but from the pictures I have seen I don’t think this new design looks better.

    I suppose it shows that Marlboro and Ferrari were worried enough by the recent criticism to change the livery, but I think while Ferrari still have any form of tobacco sponsorship on their cars they will be a target for the anti smoking lobby.

    I wonder if Ducati will adopt the same design in MotoGP now.

  5. newnhamlea1
    6th May 2010, 17:55

    i prefered the plain white box they had up until the end of 2006

  6. Makes me nostalgic for the old days of Jordan “Bitten & Hisses”.

    1. Don’t forget “Buzzin & Hornets” also

      1. Or “BE ON EDGE “

  7. I’m a bit confused here…
    Marlboro is Ferraris biggest sponsor, and that space on the airbox was, and I’m assuming still is their advertising space?
    So whatever livery on that space is still representing Marlboro in some way, right?

    I mean, if there was no reference to Marlboro that space would be simply painted red?

    Filip

    1. That’s exactly what I was thinking. When there’s a big mysterious box on the most prominent place on one of the most famous cars, then people are going to want to know why it’s there.

      I have nothing against tobacco advertising, but if you’re going to try and enforce that sort of rule, then surely you need to stop anyone taking money from Tobacco companies in exchange for changes to livery.

    2. Catalina ;)
      6th May 2010, 18:10

      you have a point there

    3. Yup, Ferrari can change the design all they want, it’s still advertising.

    4. I must say, these guys r smart!
      people cant help but talk about it, n which name comes up? Marlboro!
      amazing advertising!Hats off!

    5. My thoughts too. If they really wanted to remove all references or hints of any, they should have just left it a blank red.

      Sneaky!

      1. Not to mention that they’re advertising for Marlboro simply by drawing attention to the situation. It also sounds like a complete admission on their part, when they say that “together with Phillip Morris we decided…” Wait I thought Phillip Morris had nothing to do with that barcode?

    6. Yeah, that’s definitely a Marlboro advertisement. Right after I saw the updated livery, I went and stole some cigarettes from the convenience store, since I can’t legally smoke yet.

  8. Now everyone KNOWS that Marlboro is sponsoring the cars, they will ALL see a pack of smokes on the side. Good! I HATE censorship of any kind.

    1. That was my thought on the whole matter. Up until this year, I just assumed the design was some design Ferrari came up with. It wasn’t until I saw a question on another forum that went unanswered that I finally did the searching required to find out what it was there for. Now, i have to say, every time I see the car, or any professional car with a funky design, I wonder what is going on and try to find out. Good job media and doctors, you are giving Marlboro more advertising by raising a stink (and giving Ferrari a means to keep their sponsor happy by prolonging the “advertisement”) than would have occured if you would have left it alone!

    2. I’m not sure that limiting advertising by a multibillion dollar company dealing in addiction is really what censorship means.

      1. Yes…. Yes it is.

        The amount of money one makes has nothing to do with whether someone’s being censored or not.
        So long as companies don’t lie, there should be nothing wrong with adverts of any sort.
        Amazingly disturbing then that adverts are allowed to lie and twist the truth without any trouble, yet “neutral” tobacco advertising is banned…

  9. I think another way to read this story is that Ferrari were probably advised by their lawyers that it was and has been fairly obvious what they’ve been doing for a while now and they would have lost a legal case. It’ll be strange seeing Malboro gone. I for one, certainly found that the livery’s of teams were far superior with cigarette branding!

    1. I would not say gone. By keeping a white outline of this space, they clearly point to what is missing.

      But you are probably right about the lawyers advizing them to do something to be on the safe side.

      Come on Ferrari, you of all teams should be able to get a better sponsor instead!

      1. From a team’s point of view a “better sponsor” is one which pays more than the current one, and Ferrari get the most money from Phillip Morris (Marlboro makers) compared to how much other teams get from their sponsors. Therefore Ferrari have no need from a fianacial side to get a new sponsor.

    2. NomadIndian
      7th May 2010, 6:56

      This is just another attempt by the hidden hand of Max to go after the one team boss he could’nt bring down before leaving the FIA. I expect this issue to get a couple more twists and a few more lawyers involved before it might die down.

  10. LOL!!!!
    They just changed it from a bar code to a box, but it still SCREAMS Marlboro!!!
    I love it!! It looks more like a pack of Marlboros than
    it did before!

    I think Ferrari are just toying with these people who are complaining about the Livery. If anyone in the world knows anything about how to find loopholes in a book of Rules and Regulations (or even a book of Law), It would be an F1 team.

    1. Couldnt agree more :)

      1. I agree with SD.

  11. “This decision was taken in order to remove all speculation concerning the so-called ‘barcode’ which was never intended to be a reference to a tobacco brand.”
    I hate when people lie straight to my face! There is a picture of the Ferrari at the 1997 German Grand Prix on Wikipedia, right above a picture from 1999 with tobacco branding intact which has the white triangle shape pointing up into the red square, with the barcode below replacing the letters M-A-R-L-B-O-R-O. Now they try to tell us it was not referencing anything?

    1. Thanks for pointing that out.

      http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Michael_Schumacher_1997.jpg

      i have no problem with the tobacco publicity, but really i hate the nerve of people lying when its OBVIOUS what they are doing, just for that alone i wish i could ‘punish’ ferrari.

      1. Ya, I agree, Tiago.

    2. @MtlRacer: before you go out and call people publicly ‘liars’ you have to *prove* it. Your association exist only in your head.
      That’s the beauty of deniability.

      I must hand it to the Scuderia Ferrari Malboro team: helluva smart move.

      Money can’t buy such ingenious advertising.
      The ‘white framed empty red box’ will go into the future textbooks of advertising schools.

      The next logical step would be to run 15sec TV ad series with nothing but a red box in a white frame and no sound, just to keep the controversy going. But I doubt Marlboro would take it that far.

  12. Yesterday di Montezemolo was throwing a fit how bar code isn’t subliminal branding and now they are changing it because of that? Why Marloboro is still in F1 is beyond me, they are literally not allowed to use their logo anywhere, next step is voicing concerns about the title sponsorship they have with Ferrari…

    1. It might be a good time for Ferrari to hang on to Philip Morris.

      The way the EU economy is going, and the market threats that Spain(Santander) could be next in firing line. Things could get a little exciting for Santander and Ferrari.

      1. For Ferrari to hang up would be stupid, I mean, If they’re willing to continue to give you money in a climate where sponsors are becoming next to impossible to find (especially at this level of racing), and even ferrari needs to have a sponsor to stay at the forefront of the sport.

        You keep answering that call till the well goes dry, regardless of what people say…

  13. tomforpresident
    6th May 2010, 18:08

    the best thing about this is that it is a classic case of people being annoyed at peopel doing things they shouldnt and in the process doing more advertising for them for nothing. Marlboro must be well chuffed with all the extra publicity.

    1. it’s similar to the “Streisand Effect”.

      If I were Ferrari I would wait a few races and then put the barcode back on saying we want it back on now that now everyone must realise it is just racing livery and not related to Marlboro.

  14. David Smith
    6th May 2010, 18:08

    Like File21 I’m confused!!
    Is the airbox still Marlboro space? I would assume it is as the need to still ‘put’ something there rather than remove the whole thing. But to me this looks more like a pack of marlboro ciggys than before. Why dont they just remove the whole thing and be done with it. Can we honestly see mattel putting this decal on their models hhmm I think not – so its still related to Marlboro. And now Ferrari have made this move are they openly admitting that the barcode was a bit too close.
    By the way I am a ferrari fan – but think they’ve messed up here in a big way. Now wheres my ciggys gone!!!

  15. The official team name is Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, correct? Can they not legitimately put the team name on the side of the car?

    Having said that, they’ve been using the logo SF for a while now. My personal opinion, however, is Marlboro (or Phillip Morris) should have no involvement in F1 or Ferrari. Tobacco advertising has been banned for 13 years now, as always F1 is lagging behind society.

    1. I’m not certain but I think that because the name Marlboro is a registered trade mark for a cigarette brand it can not be included anywhere on the cars.

  16. Interesting. Seeing as they claimed till they were blue (red?) in the face that there was nothing wrong with the barcode design.

    Ferrari feeling guilty, methinks.

    Still getting hundreds of millions of monies from a tobacco company though. It’s wrong whichever way you look at it.

    1. Ned Flanders
      6th May 2010, 18:51

      I don’t think Ferrari feel guilty at all, I think this is just another Marlboro publicity stunt. And, saying as they’ve been in the news for the last week and we’re discussing them right now, I’d say it’s workeed.

      Marlboro are spending hundreds of millions of pounds on sponsoring Ferrari, so they were hardly going to give this one up without a fight.

  17. Untitled258
    6th May 2010, 18:24

    That just looks stupid, it would of been better to have nothing at all if they are going to at off.

  18. Box nothing – the whole car is Marlboro.

    Ferraris were painted Rosso Corsa which is a deeper shade of red until they got sponsorship from Marlboro in 1996 (when Mclaren lost it) and the cars became day glow “Marboro” red.

    1. Ferrari changed their color scheme mid-2008/2009 back to Rosso Corsa – which is what color it currently is.

      1. I’m pretty sure one of the cars was Rosso Corsa and the other one Marlboro Red

    2. But Ferrari had Marlboro sponsorship all over their cars prior to 1996.

  19. This is great publicity! All they need to do is change the design every so often, and on each occasion remind us that it has nothing to do with Marlboro. Nothing whatsoever to do with Marlboro. Yes Marlboro. This is far better advertising than actually having the name on the car. Which one? Yes Marlboro. I’m going to take up smoking.

  20. My idea is for Marlbro to buy a very small company that deals in something like a local t-shirt printing company, a fruit shop or an independent shoe shop. Change the name of the business to “Marlbro” then in very small print have shoes or what ever is applicable, repeat this on the car big Marlbro them in very small print have shoes. Or what about putting Ferrari on the Marlbo boxes instead

    1. They tried that just before the UK ban came in by launching a brand of clothing. It soon disappeared though, I assume someone had a word!
      Someone should have a word with Ferrari, this is making them look stupid.

      1. The clothing wasn’t brought in just before the ban, they’d been making it for decades and you could get it for free in exchange for the foils from packs of Marlboro.
        They used to produce a big glossy book of Marlboro branded products with everything from clothing, bar tending equipment, furniture, sports equipment and pretty much everything else you could think of.

        They weren’t the only ones, I got loads of free Jordan F1 stuff from Benson & Hedges before those sort of promotions were banned.

        Marlboro branded clothing is still available as Philip Morris licensed the Marlboro Classic name with The Valentino Fashion Group in Italy in the 1980s and this clothing is sold all over the world, including the UK. It’s quite expensive designer clothing so it’s not the sort of thing you see every day.

        Then there’s the Dunhill clothing line too which is effectively using the same loophole to get around the ban.

  21. polishboy808
    6th May 2010, 18:33

    ITS SOOOOOOOOO UGLY!!!!!!!!! If your gonna get rid of the barcode, get rid of the whole thing, and dont leave that crap white outline, it looks hysterical, like they ran out of time to erase the whole thing.

  22. All this is doing is creating even more advertising. They said it wasn’t, there was little proof. Everyone dropped it and moved on.

    A few days later, as the press had moved on to other stories, Monty came out and stirred it up a bit more. More coverage, more mentions of the word ‘Marlboro’ & ‘Ferrari’ in press worldwide.

    As things settle down again and with no further evidence to link a barcode to Marlboro than existing speculation they pull another stunt. Yet more advertising and re-inforcing the Ferrari / Marlboro ties. Even tho they seem to be removing the controversial design all they are doing is increasing the press covereage, increasing the brand coverage..

    Fair play to them, playing the game and winning so far. Lets see if an EU investigation starts..

  23. It looks even more like a marlboro box now than it did before

    1. completely right there, i am sure this is only coincedence :o

  24. David Smith
    6th May 2010, 18:48

    What they should do is have the drivers names on the side of the respective airbox – Nothing wrong with that then ferrari could be crafty and use the Marlboro Font!!
    I can’t see anything wrong with that as its doesnt say marlboro and it doesnt look like marlboro and would look a whole lot better than the ‘new’ design..I feel there were better options available than this design. I bet they make further changes to it again?

  25. I’ve never been a Ferrari fan but I had respect for them. Putting a box on the car is childish. Can I suggest that they grow up, bite the bullet and get the car back to all red. I suspect they will do that very soon but I think they ought to hurry as their image is tarnishing very fast.

  26. Damn! After all these years, I’m now desperate to take up smoking have never smoke in my 35 years.

    How foolish do i feel being subjected to this subliminal advertising?

    Lets be sensible, who cares if tobacco companies advertise? It’s a totally legal product. Governments around the World are happy to collect the taxes from tobacco.

  27. F1withMySon
    6th May 2010, 19:04

    The caption underneath the new white box on the car should read, “This space reserved for Marlboro”

    1. Or they could go for a new age approach and
      have a caption which reads ‘The box formerly know as the Barcode’

      1. Only they would have to make an acronym of it (TbfkastB) and then go to some depth during all press conferences explaining what that means. Even the amount of letters fits to have that printed in a font not too far from the cigarette brands font!

  28. Wow, this is excellent. Devilishly brilliant marketing.

    I think they’ve planned this from the first allegations onwards. Luca only needed to stir it up because the story went stale. He doesn’t care what people think. He laughs thinking of all the millions the team receives, for what, a box?

    Even the title of the post has the word Marlboro. Damn.

  29. What’s the problem with tobacco sponsorship anyways. I don’t think this will make people go smoke. The only thing it does is that if they do, there likely to buy a pack of marlboro. And for that matter, if everyone here (the Netherlands) stopped smoking the government would be bankrupt in a matter of days because of all the taxes you pay on cigarettes. Same with petrol. It’s “bad” because it causes the earth to warm up but it’s also a very good way to earn some tax money.

  30. Very nice fag box.

  31. Together with Philip Morris International we have decided to modify the livery of our cars starting with the Barcelona Grand Prix.

    By this we want to put an end to this ridiculous story

    In what land did they think that would happen? ;-)

    I’m afraid the only thing that’s ridiculous about this story is Ferrari’s behaviour. Regardless of whether it was their intent or not, the barcode had by virtue of the recent publicity inextricably connected to the Marlboro sponsorship issue. So do they hold their hands up and remove it for the sake of co-operation? No, they replace it with something else, and by the circumstances in which the new logo has appeared, it too will be inextricably linked with the issue.

    I just feel sorry for the guys that have nothing to do with this but will get a lot of the backlash due to it. There’s nothing wrong with Philip Morris International owning the Ferrari space and then re-selling advertising space. There’s not even much wrong with the fact they have Malboro in their name, since it’s an issue of respecting contracts (though the ban was some time coming, and it must have been signed knowing it was a probability) – as long as it disappears when the contract expires. But the Ferrari top brass’ behaviour so far this year shows how little class they have.

  32. one thing i don’t understand…

    if the barcode had nothing to do with Marlboro, why they say now that:

    “Together with Philip Morris International we have decided to modify the livery of our cars starting with the Barcelona Grand Prix.”

    Wasn’t it just purely cosmetic??…

  33. Well of course they had to remove the barcode, some people seem to think it’s associated with promoting smoking. Ferrari are only being responsible.

  34. Catalina ;)
    6th May 2010, 21:02

    lol, that new logo is so silly :P
    I would have prefered a empty red fin, rather than that box.

  35. I’m surprised they didn’t white-fill the box, to make it back like the early 2000s non-tobacco livery.

    It will be interesting to see if they change the design again in the future, but I bet they are absolutely over the moon at all the publicity they are getting

  36. Isn’t it weird that Ferrari claim that the “bar code” was never intended to be a reference to a tobacco brand, but yet they “together with Phillip Morris International” have decided to modify the livery of the cars?

    If the bar code had no reference to a tobacco brand why did they “need” to work together with Phillip Morris to remove the barcode?

    In my personal opinion, the FIA should be auditing all teams and finding out where all their money comes from and stamp out any funding from companies that is deemed to be against the law, or against the spirit of the law.

    1. Because Phillip Morris International are part of the team, hence the name of the team is “Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro” and as such i would assume both parties would be influential in such a major redesign of the cars branding. Much like the Maclaren-Mercedes partnership.

      1. Well the thing is tobacco advertising is not allowed on the cars. So even though Phillip Morris might sponsor Ferrari, it should make no difference to Phillip Morris what the car actually looks like, as they aren’t allowed to have any of their cigarette brands on the car anyway.

        Therefore hypothetically Ferrari should be able to paint their car Purple and it shouldn’t bother Phillip Morris, because theoretically there are no references to Phillip Morris on the car, so the livery of the car in no way affects their brand awareness, because there isn’t allowed to be any cigarette brand awareness. By the way Phillip Morris is the company that owns Malboro.

        Previously Ferrari has denied that the bar-code has anything to do with Phillip Morris, however in order to remove the bar-code from the cars, Ferrari has stated that by working together with Phillip Morris they have removed the bar-code, thereby implying that Phillip Morris and the bar-code are somehow linked, i.e. the bar-code is meant to represent Malboro. So on one hand Ferrari is saying, “nope the bar-code has nothing to do with Malboro”, but on the other hand are saying “well we had to ask Phillip Morris if it would be okay to remove the bar-code, and they said yes”.

        Let’s say that hypothetically Ferrari decided they wanted to remove the Shell logos from their car they wouldn’t need to consult with Phillip Morris to do so. They only reason they would need to consult with Phillip Morris is to remove elements of the livery that relate to Phillip Morris, i.e. the bar-code.

        1. So by working with Phillip Morris to remove the bar-code in my opinion it suggests that Ferarri has had cigarette branding illegally on their cars for however many years, thereby breaking the laws regarding tobacco advertising in many countries.

          And similarly to remove the bar-code and replacing it with a white square box suggests they that continue to illegally have tobacco branding / advertising on their car, elsewise they would have just painted the engine cover red, or put a different sponsors logo in place of the bar-code.

          1. Very well said, Ferrari have broke the law. It is there because of an income they receive from Phillip Morris, Ergo it is advertising.

  37. Daniel Bgham
    6th May 2010, 21:34

    They won’t run it in the race! Look at it, it doesn’t have the F-duct on it. They’re just winding the story up and getting more publicity! Unless they whip out another modified engine cover and shark fin, but why bother with painting two covers and fins?

    1. Two? you honestly think they only make two? hahahahahaha omg either they changed the duct placement (don’t know as i haven’t seen F1 since they dropped the V12’S) or it’s a plastic mock up.. either way I’m guessing almost everything in the car is new every race.. they can’t have imperfections on the car’s body..

  38. it still seems the top of a Marlboro Red packet and the barcode was nicer. Meanwhile, there’s been tons of free advertising for Philip Morris. That 10-years deal with Ferrari proves to be profitable, after all.

  39. Some simple questions.

    If they weren’t doing anything wrong, why are they changing what they’re doing?

    If the logo (including this blank box, isn’t a reference to cigarettes, then pray tell, what are Philip Morris paying Ferrari for, exactly?

    These people eat corporate-speak for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

  40. I’m sure at some point someone will complain about the white box. I don’t really care, but I see it forthcoming down the line. All the way until finally Marlboro stops sponsoring the team.

  41. Prisoner Monkeys
    6th May 2010, 22:27

    It really does make them look like an underfunded GP2 team, doesn’t it?

    1. Or a Sauber? ^_^

  42. David Smith
    6th May 2010, 22:47

    I still think Alonso / Massa wrote on the respective cars airboxes would look a whole lot better than this ‘Joke’ if ferrari wanted to be crafty they could have use the Marlboro Font…

  43. Two of Alonso’s engines have started smoking this year. Is this allowed?

    1. Heh,heh. That’s good!

  44. Bartholomew
    6th May 2010, 23:09

    Within the white box i would put a picture of Lou smoking a cigarette
    LOL

  45. Electrolite
    6th May 2010, 23:39

    That looks ridiculous! haha!

  46. Hahaha, good one Ferrari. Sadly some ppl will still complain about a white square

  47. This whole episode has become a comedy sketch.

    Some physicians got up in arms about a barcode being “subliminal advertising” for tobacco and made the news. The public discussion became so great that the barcode become firmly associated with Marlboro even for people who previously had no idea about it.

    Ferrari responds by doing away with the barcode to stop all the the polemics. Now people are saying the white rectangle replacing it is subliminal advertising because they know what it replaces and horrors it might be shaped like a cigarette pack?

    Next I expect Ferrari will remove the white rectangle and people will notice the absence of something/anything and say it is subliminal advertising because it’s NOT THERE!

    1. “Ferrari responds by doing away with the barcode to stop all the the polemics. ”

      Huh? Ferrari are the only ones coming out with polemics. As far as I can tell, physicians tend to try to point us in the right direction so we don’t end up falling apart too early.

  48. Mission accomplished for Marlboro. It might not say Marlboro but guess what we’re talking about. Over at McLaren, Vodafone are wondering what they have to do to get this type of coverage. But then, Vodafone are a legitimate sponsor.

  49. KeldenButton
    7th May 2010, 1:26

    A silly box is put in place of a malboro barcode. the fact that it was replaced by something means they are still going to recieve fire from health proffessionals; what is the box meant to represent?.

    How bout a Shell title sponsorship. Red and yellow ferrari,might as well get ronald mc D’s get in on the sponsor train? atleast obesity promoting products aren’t banned.

  50. I bet ferrari are planning to write”SMOKING IS INJURIOUS TO HEALTH” in that box during race day..lol!

  51. Oh great. Now that white line box looks even more like a pack of Marlboro reds. I hate PR stunts.

  52. Grosjean's rubble
    7th May 2010, 4:28

    they should put ‘FAGS’ in the red box for Ferrari Automotive Group Sales (using the same Marlboro type face) :) that would be sure to get them lots of press

  53. And these are the same people who complain they want to see action on track not off it?? Hardly anyone who doesnt know about ferrari or f1 can get its a Marlboro label. I dont see why people are so stuck up on it.

  54. It looks like you could just pop that open and pull out a Marlboro. I’m going to light up right now…

  55. Now when the next time the ferrari engine blows up,morris would be the happiest person i guess

  56. “Does changing the look of the design answer the criticism of their sponsorship by a tobacco firm?”

    Erm, no.

  57. Looks even more like a fag packet now! It’s an upside down pack of Marlboro Reds with just the top showing!

  58. I liked barcodes, they communicate to the inner money spender in me… I was a smoker for 10 years, and i think the only time i was drawn by any form of advert was to try a new brand that had a funky looking box…

    now from experience i know that what sells a cigarette to non smokers is who they relate to. perhaps banning smoking in the movies and on TV shows would be a more anal way to go… it would be effective but a bit communistic… in any case F1’s glry days are directly linked to Tobacco sponsors, that’s something F1 will never get rid of… Ban on ads/bar codes or not…

  59. look awful… just leave it plain red imho

  60. They could put ‘Stronzi/Stronzo’ in the box (short for A*holes/A*hole respectively)

  61. Priceless advertising!! whoever thought of this is on for a big bonus!!
    casual supporter ‘whats that white box on the ferraris?’
    Fan ‘well, they had to remove a barcode from that area’
    Casual supporter ‘why??’
    Fan ‘becasue it was meant to represent ciggarette advertising’
    Casual supporter ‘how come, who?’
    Fan ‘well, ferrari are in bed with Marlboro…’
    etc etc and so everyone talks about the white box / barcode / marlboro.

  62. Those red folks really know how to dig themselves into a deeper grave but they just don’t care…

  63. Pathetic, Ferrari.

    Like an Italian tank – you are all reverse gear.

    You don’t win the war that way.

    You should have told the nanny state fussers to go take a running jump.

    Keep up the sponsorship connection.

    It’s better money than all the others, and we all have our choice as to smoke or not.

    Nick

Comments are closed.