Those 'vintage' liveries...

[Onch]

If the advertising were not encouraging people to smoke then what is the point of advertising?

As has been mentionned already, it has - in this case - more to do with brand awareness etc. A friend offering you a cigarette might have you starting smoking, the logo on the car will just make you eventually switch brand...
I was actually shocked seeing large advertising images in Germany where a guy is presented to be 'cool' because he smokes, but just a name and a logo on a car does not produce the same effect imho.

+ Sponsorship is for such companies also a way to spend money on something else than taxes. Whether it is really effective or not, it is still better for them to use it this way instead of taxes.

Regarding the liveries I would say they are walking a fine line, as most F1 liveries are associated with a sponsor or product. This was certainly the case for the JPS and Rothmans liveries and, as such, are associated to those cars. As I've said before, these liveries will always be referred to by those product names and are therefore advertising those products.

My point exactly, hence my wondering whether teams possibly approached tobacco co's to get some money or the other way around...


Completely agree with Terrible3's POV, not sure the Marlboro man is such a desirable image though...

[gridwalker]

To be honest, there is no case to be had against the Williams. When I have performed freelance design work, I have often been given an exacting brief regarding which colours and proportions are to be used.

Trademarked branding needs to be precisely specified, to protect both the copyright holder and the public. In the case of colour graphics, the colours also need to specified in the trademark application.

Defining the precise colours to be used (be it using the pantone scale or any other) enables companies to maintain control over the use (and abuse) of their public image whilst allowing other brands the freedom to develop similar concepts without risking inadvertent infringement.

The Williams does not use the right colours for the Rothmans brand. The stripes are generic enough for the style to be free of copyright and there has been no money exchanging hands : Case closed (legally speaking).

In the case of Lotus, I guess you could say that it is fair use. For many people, black and gold will evoke lotus more than JPS (as a smoker, black and gold says "sovereign" to me). It has been so long since there was a JPS sponsored car that the only people who will make the instant connection will be those who are already old enough to have made up their own minds about smoking, so the standard "child protection" argument doesn't hold water.

As long as no money changes hands, I say let the teams reclaim the liveries for themselves. Let it become the Williams/Lotus livery above anything else, diminishing the original role of the tobacco sponsors.