2018 Japanese GP SUZUKA, JAPAN - OCTOBER 04: Philip Morris Mission Winnow branding on the Ferrari SF71H during the Japanese GP at Suzuka on October 04, 2018 in Suzuka, Japan. (Photo by Zak Mauger / LAT Images) Images) PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxONLY _54I6738
F1 giants Ferrari have been sporting Mission Winnow for a couple of years but what is the story behind these sponsors?
Formula One (F1) is one of the biggest racing competitions in the world. Teams travel to several countries over the course of the season and the F1 cars also reach speeds of up to 320kmph.
F1 racers have to be in great physical condition too but it is difficult to run any team without the help of some sponsors.
Formula One teams have tons of names plastered all over them. Some of the names, itself, feature sponsors such as Red Bull Racing. Sponsors bring millions of dollars to teams and help them with their budgets, but one deal has caught the eye of many over the years.
Ferrari, who have been part of F1 since 1950, have the most entries in the sport, most wins, most constructor titles and many other records.
The Prancing Horse, as they are called, have been seen with a green logo of Mission Winnow for a while, and although this could be seen as a joke for Ferrari to win more races and get back to the days when they dominated F1, there is more to the story.
Before we get into the Mission Winnow sponsor deal with Ferrari, another topic has to be touched. F1 had seen a lot of tobacco sponsorship and branding over the years, especially in the 90s and 2000s.
Marlboro were the major sponsors of Ferrari for several years while McLaren were carrying the West branding for a long time.
However, blanket bans had been put in place for all racing teams in F1 with many countries also objecting to open branding of tobacco products.
F1 teams still circumnavigated this with McLaren and Ferrari still being linked with tobacco brands. Philip Morris International (PMI) who produce Marlboro even signed a deal with Ferrari worth almost £100m per year (h/t Guardian).
However, they replaced their branding with Mission Winnow, which is another project from PMI.
The website of Mission Winnow states the following regarding this project:
“We are committed to constant improvement To transform not only our company but an entire industry for the 1.1 billion people who smoke and those around them.”
While working on products that are less harmful that tobacco is a major step forward to deal with addiction, many have complained that the design for the M on Mission Winnow is subliminal messaging and reminds people of Marlboro.
PMI have been associated with F1 and Ferrari for a long time but even this Mission Winnow move doesn’t seem to be working in all places.
PMI have often removed the Mission Winnow branding completely from Australian races due to their strict tobacco branding laws.
In fact, the same is being done in several European Grand Prix too, and the 2021 French GP is another example of Ferrari opting not to run the branding.
Mission Winnow also posted a statement regarding the decision not to run the logo in all European races henceforth:
It is to be seen what happens with Mission Winnow in future races. Ferrari have brought up talks of new sponsors in terms of AWS joining the organisation, and that leaves PMI with quite a job if they are to be seen on the red cars in the future
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