The EU banned tobacco advertising in motorsports in 2007, and for good reasons too- children and young adults alike had access to the sporting event thanks to television, and could have watched their favorite cars and racers encouraging a hazardous habit. This law, however, didn’t stop the Ferrari motor-racing team.
In a one-sentence press release, “Scuderia Ferrari Malboro” recently said that it had “extended its collaboration agreement with Philip Morris International to the end of 2015.” Some estimate that the deal could be worth up to $100m to the Formula One Team, which has been sponsored by Marlboro cigarettes since 1984.
Both Action on Smoking and Heath and the Royal College of Physicans have written to Jean Todt (president of Formula One), urging him to investigate this deal. Not only is this deal considered wrong because it leads to the promotion a life-threatening product, but also because this gives Ferrari an unfair boost over other law-abiding teams who don’t have a tobacco industry sponsorship.