Formula 1: Drive to Survive on Netflix criticized for tobacco ad

Netflix’s popular Formula One show is providing the tobacco giant a fast and effective marketing vehicle to circumvent previous restrictions on advertising its product, industry watchers said on Wednesday.

Behind-the-scenes Formula One streaming series Drive to Survive has been hugely popular on Netflix, which recently released its fifth season.

But campaigners have warned that in addition to boosting motor sport’s popularity, the show is also branding cigarette companies that sponsor F1 teams around the world, including in countries where tobacco advertising is illegal. are banned.

In a recent report, F1 industry monitor Formula Money and tobacco industry watchdog STOP alleged that in just the fourth season of Drive to Survive, “a total of 1.1 billion minutes of footage streamed worldwide contained tobacco-related content.”

According to the report, titled “Driving Addiction: F1, Netflix and Cigarette Company Advertising”, half of that season’s episodes included tobacco-related branding in the opening minute.

The report added that the product branding of Ferrari’s sponsor Philip Morris International (PMI) and McLaren’s sponsor British American Tobacco (BAT) “featured heavily in the series, with extended plotlines following the teams’ drivers.”

“Research shows that PMI and BAT are reaching new audiences through the show, including people who would not otherwise watch F1 races,” it added.

young audience

Wednesday’s report showed Drive to Survive’s audience was lower than the general F1 audience, and also suggested it had contributed to a significant increase in viewership of F1 races beyond the Netflix series.

“This increase in viewership means more people see the branding F1 sponsors on cars and livery,” it said.

“Netflix has a responsibility not to distribute content that promotes, even if indirectly, a cigarette company brand,” STOP’s George Alde told AFP.

Netflix did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A global treaty has called for an end to all tobacco advertising, the use of which the World Health Organization estimates kills more than eight million people each year.

And the International Automobile Federation (FIA), Formula One’s governing body, has recommended against tobacco company sponsorship in the sport for two decades.

Tobacco companies have since stopped advertising with F1 for their traditional cigarette brands, but continue to push new alternative products such as e-cigarettes in some cases.

“They live in this gray area of ​​what is and is not tobacco marketing,” Alde said.

When contacted by AFP, the FIA ​​said it “strongly opposes tobacco advertising and stands by its 2003 recommendations”.

However, it added, “we are not in a position to interfere with private commercial arrangements between teams and their sponsors, or broadcasting agreements.”

Formula One meanwhile insisted that “all advertising is in line with applicable laws.”

Advertisement through historical footage

Wednesday’s report found that PMI and BAT will spend an estimated $40 million on F1 advertising in 2022.

The report stated that Batt’s Wooz e-cigarette and Wello nicotine pouch products “were the most prominent brands on the McLaren livery throughout the season.”

It reported that the branding of these products appeared in 13 out of 22 races, including the Mexico City Grand Prix, despite Mexico’s stringent advertising restrictions.

PMI, one of F1’s oldest and longest running sponsors, meanwhile significantly reduced its spending last year.

The report found that although it remained a Ferrari partner, its logos and designs no longer appeared on the team’s cars.

When contacted by AFP, Tommaso Di Giovanni, the company’s vice-president of international communications, insisted that the partnership between Netflix and F1 “has nothing to do with us,” stressing that it had worked since 2007. Product branding on cars and drivers’ apparel was discontinued.

Meanwhile Wednesday’s report claimed that the tobacco giant, which has spent about $2.4 billion on advertising since first entering the game in 1971, is seeking to reap branding benefits from the Netflix series through historical footage. to continue.

Caroline Reid, co-author of Formula Money, explained in a statement that a “one minute of historic footage includes five different cigarette brands including PMI’s Marlboro.”