Ferrari in Abu Dhabi in FULL MARLBORO branding

[DexDexter]

I really don't agree with banning tobacco sponsors. They are only advertising their product, not forcing people to buy it.

"Only" advertising, in other words they are trying to make tobacco look "cool" and to get people smoking. They produce tobacco and try to sell it, it's as simple as that. The only problem is that tobacco can kill you. I think F1 should finally ( it's years and years too late) ban all sorts of advertising related to tobacco, even indirect.

[F1boat]

I hate smoking but I'm against banning.
Giving that much power to governments is not good idea.

[leopard]

i like something because of sensation asociated with it, smoking Marlboro make you feel better if you have to support ferrari, 555 for old BAR etc.

Ferrari and Kimi here looks better since usually tobacco product in a car will make it looks more groovy, besides being an occasional smoker isn't too bad

[wmcot]

I hate smoking but I'm against banning.
Giving that much power to governments is not good idea.

I agree totally! I can't stand cigarette smoke, but should everything I hate be banned from advertising? My brother died of alcoholism, should I demand that they ban alcohol as well if they are so interested in "health" issues? Maybe I just lost all my tax data on an HP computer that crashed - should I hate HP as a sponsor?

[Mikeall]

I think in the long term it is a good thing to ban tobacco sponsorship. It makes F1 more marketable to other companies as it makes F1 seem a healthier sport.

[wmcot]

I think in the long term it is a good thing to ban tobacco sponsorship. It makes F1 more marketable to other companies as it makes F1 seem a healthier sport.

Then alcohol advertising should go, too? That would make the sport appear even healthier!

(Especially since drinking and driving can have a more instantaneous bad consequence than smoking and driving.)

[Storm]

I think in the long term it is a good thing to ban tobacco sponsorship. It makes F1 more marketable to other companies as it makes F1 seem a healthier sport.

Why is appearing a healthier sport an issue? Nobody is stopping other big companies from advertising in F1 is there ? If the don't its their loss.

I agree with wmcot completely, I really hate cigarette smoke but I don't care if they (F1 teams) actually strap cigarettes onto their overalls because I watch F1 for the racing and the excitement. Not to get influenced or find out about brands via the liveries.

And the age old, tobacco is bad, so ban its advertising is a lame excuse as the people who get influenced by tobacco ads and start smoking to look cool inspite of knowing the hazards (or buy any product due to how cool it looks in adv) are idiots anyway.

[DexDexter]

Why is appearing a healthier sport an issue? Nobody is stopping other big companies from advertising in F1 is there ? If the don't its their loss.

I agree with wmcot completely, I really hate cigarette smoke but I don't care if they (F1 teams) actually strap cigarettes onto their overalls because I watch F1 for the racing and the excitement. Not to get influenced or find out about brands via the liveries.

And the age old, tobacco is bad, so ban its advertising is a lame excuse as the people who get influenced by tobacco ads and start smoking to look cool inspite of knowing the hazards (or buy any product due to how cool it looks in adv) are idiots anyway.

Idiots or not, if they get sick because of tobacco, they'll cost me and other tax payers a lot of money, at least in this country where health care is provided to all. Why should I pay for them being stupid? Why should tobacco companies be allowed to court stupid people?

[gofastandwynn]

Idiots or not, if they get sick because of tobacco, they'll cost me and other tax payers a lot of money, at least in this country where health care is provided to all. Why should I pay for them being stupid? Why should tobacco companies be allowed to court stupid people?

Ok then, why dosen't the governemt just ban tobacco? Oh thats right, because the make too much money off of it.

IMHO, you seeing a car going fast makes you want to smoke, the you have issues to deal with before you get to smoking.

I also think that the only reason people can't stop smoking is because they are weak and they don't want to. They may know that they need to stop, but they don't want to. My father smoked for decades then he decided he wanted to stop. He threw his cigs out the window of the car and never smoked a day in his life. No patch, no gum, he juts quit.

I don't like smoking, I hate the smell of it, how it soaks into you clothers, but I am not going to try to force my will onto others.

gofast out...

[wmcot]

I would bet that 99.999% of smokers were enticed to try it by their friends. I doubt that you could find one case worldwide where a person started smoking because he saw a logo on an F1 car.

That said, it does hinder the image of a sport. NASCAR improved its image when it went from Winston as the title sponsor to Nextel (of course cars and cell phones can be deadly, too!)

I don't like cigarettes - my parents both smoked and there was nothing I hated more than being in a closed car in the winter with both of them puffing away. My mom quit when she had most of her stomach removed due to ulcers and my dad quit when he had a heart attack. There lives were much improved after giving up the habit (and there was more money left over each month!)

Still, I'm not going to say who can and can't put a Marlboro, Mild Seven, 555, B&H, etc. logo on a racing car!