Tobacco advertisings effect on F1

[the_tsar]

Hi I am preparing for my A level media exam and the topic I've chosen is tobacco advertising in formula one, any of your comments would be helpful.
The question is...
What effect does tobacco advertising in Formula one have on its audience?

[Dani Filth]

it hasn't make me smoke ... :

[DNQ]

I say, NO.

[Glen]

If it didn't work, they woudn't do it.

[PaulSands]

My opinion is that it obviously influences brand choice and awareness (I for one had never heard of West before they appeared on the McLaren) but I don't feel it has any influence on whether people start smoking.
Far more likely is the apperance of pop/film stars, or other such idols, with a cigarette...you see someone "cool" smoking as a youngster and many want to be as cool

[Glen]

Same idea, Paul - to associate smoking with a glamorous, exciting, dynamic sport is to attempt to make it cool. Governments don't ban tobacco advertising just to annoying.

[ASCII Man]

Eventually, yes.

Time for the teambosses to get of their lazy arses and find alternative sponsors, like Williams did.

[Wrex]

I agree with Paul. I't more brand awareness than anything else. If they had Michael or Juan with a ciggy in hand that would be inapropriate.

But at least they are on the right path.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by PaulSands
(I for one had never heard of West before they appeared on the McLaren)

They sponsored Zakspeed in the 80's.

[paulzinho]

IMO it acts to encourage current smokers to switch brands as has been mentioned already. I very much doubt that new smokers started smoking because of cigarette advertsing in F1. Not in this country anyway.

[climb]

As said in other threads, tobacco ads have being banned from many domains for many years; nevertheless in the meantime cigs concumption has not decreased at all: on the contrary new strands of consumers (particularly women) have increased hugely.
If this is an indicator of ban-effectiveness... pah!

[Smokey 6 litre]

As far as im concerned Taboacco advertising WONT make a person smoke if they don't want too, the only reason for it being there is to try to encourge snokers to use their brand rather than a rivals.

[Jordi]

I've been watching F1 since I was 8 and have NEVER smoked.

It's all hypocrisy. The governments ban sponsorship so it appears they do something in the public eye to prevent people smoking, but they do not ban tobacco altogether. Why? Because the taxes they get from tobacco are huge!

[Liz]

Are they also going to shred all the old books and magazines showing cigarette ads on the cars? And erase the memory of Senna and of Gilles because they were nothing but drug pushing corrupters of babies?

Advertising does not make people do things. People make themselves do things. Remember when your mother used to tell you that "Susie didn't make you throw that baseball through the window! You did that yourself!" Same thing with smoking. Ferrari doesn't hold a gun on anyone and say "Smoke or I'll shoot!"

[vatuloa]

There are less people smoking now than there were before Television started so to say Band Names on cars will make people take up smoking is a joke. Movies where the stars smoke will and this is where most smokers start from. In third world countries you still have the school shop plastered in cigarette ads and those shops don't just sell packets of 10 and twenty they sell cigarettes in ones and twos and not packets as they can't afford it.

[the_tsar]

Thank you everyone for your help with this, it has contributed to my research.

My own personal view is that it should not be banned because people are capable of choosing whether they smoke or not and won't be manipulated by advertising on a Formula one car.

Thanks again

[Liz]

Can we see the paper when it's done?

[Dani Filth]

lots of young people start smoking even before they know that motorsport exists ...

[Glen]

The only thing proved by your own experiences of not being a smoker and therefore not influenced by the advertising is that it didn't work in your own case. That argument ignores the millions of people who do smoke, and the possible degree to which they might have been influenced.

[twig]

I dont think that the tobacco advertising has the same sort of effect on people as say, in movies.

In the movies, cig companies pay the producer or whatever to get their actor to smoke on screen, if the actor is kool or portreys an image that other people in the real world want to emulate, then it somewhat increases the chances of that person smoking.

But in F1, although you sometimes relate your favourite team to a pack of cigarettes, and might say, if you do smoke, ill have this teams brand, but it doesnt force you to do it. Although you can relate the glitzy, glamourous and exciting world of F1 to cigarette brands, you somewhat consciencly or subconcsciencly have the separation, due to the fact that you see a car, and it is not smoking.
You dont see the drivers smoking, and you sometimes think about the business side of things, and with that, the effectiveness of the tobacco advertising is somewhat not as strong - Since the human element is not really there.

How was that?

[Glen]

Don't underestimate the power of the brand and image - our lives are saturated with highly sophisticated brand messages... we can never even hope to un-pick them all and know a fraction of the effect they have on us. it is powerful stuff and a fact of modern life.

[Bononi]

Exactly. The ideal point it's when you advertise such things, you should have ads that shows what the consequences of their use. Fight fire with fire.

[climb]

Originally posted by Glen
Don't underestimate the power of the brand and image - our lives are saturated with highly sophisticated brand messages... we can never even hope to un-pick them all and know a fraction of the effect they have on us. it is powerful stuff and a fact of modern life.

Agree with you Glen, but I wouldn't consider tobacco brands printed on sidepods and helmets such sophisticated messages.

What about drivers celebrating with mega champagne bottles, then?
Maybe they should drink milk like at Indy500?

[Adam43]

Originally posted by climb
What about drivers celebrating with mega champagne bottles, then?

Not in France (where it is made!)...

[Splatz the Cow]

Yes.

Public health is more important than F1.