Ferrari accused of promoting tobacco in Italy

This is the kind of advertising that the racing stables Formula 1 would happily happen. Codacons, a non-profit organization that defends the rights of Italian consumers, announced its intention to file a complaint against Ferrari about its major partner Mission Winnow in a press release published on its website.

Codacons accuses the Scuderia of circumventing anti-smoking legislation by promoting this somewhat nebulous initiative supported by Philip Morris, historic sponsor of Maranello. The taxpayers' defense association has bluntly demanded that the SF1000 presented with great fanfare last Monday at the Municipal Teatro in the city of Reggio Emilia be seized. 

In its fight, Codacons has sought help from the “Nuclei Antisofisticazione e Sanita” (NAS), the police department responsible for looking after the health and well-being of Italian citizens. 

Since the arrival of Mission Winnow on the Ferrari livery at the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix, the Scuderia has clearly been hampered at times and has had to juggle different anti-smoking legislation around the world. Last year, the logos of the improbable Philip Morris initiative were replaced by references to Ferrari's 90th anniversary in countries where the law is very strict on these public health issues. 

Ferrari is not the only team trying to smoke in secret. This is also the case for McLaren, whose partnership with British American Tobacco was strengthened during the winter. The tobacco giant thus uses the Woking single-seaters to promote these electronic products in markets where such display is tolerated.