“The Green Arrow Represents…”: Ferrari F1 Sponsor Mission Winnow Justify Despised Logo

Ferrari made a bit of a splash during launch season. They unveiled a striking car that was rather blemished by the splotch of green on the engine cover. That dash of green was the logo of Ferrari’s title sponsor Mission Winnow (MW). MW have explained their rationale for switching from black/white to green. 

Mission Winnow is an initiative which has been championed by leading tobacco producer Philip Morris International(PMI). This mysterious company has come under a lot of criticism. Many observers suspect it’s a way for PMI to circumvent the strict anti-tobacco advertising regulations in F1. 

The reasoning behind the green MW logo on the Ferrari

In an interview, PMI spokesperson Tommaso Di Giovanni spoke about how the debate regarding this was part of the reasoning behind this change. He said, “From the start, Mission Winnow has always experimented with its visual identity.”

“Much like a green screen does for film. The green arrow represents possibility and opens the opportunity to imagine new horizons.”

He said that the company wanted to spark debate and discussion. He felt this would would help with the preconceived image of the company. The Italian said, “Regardless of opinions about the colour, sparking debate and creating dialogue. This is exactly what Mission Winnow is meant to do.”

“We have consistently encouraged people to place their preconceptions about our company aside. We want them to open their mind to the transformation we are going through.”

Could more be done to prevent tobacco advertising on F1 cars? 

Tobacco company advertising in F1 was very prevalent during the 90s and 00s. Many of the iconic cars of that period featured the erstwhile tobacco brands of the time. Ferrari were sponsored by Marlboro and McLaren by West among many other examples. 

The late 00s saw a crackdown on this sort of advertising by F1. This cane as many studies showed the impact of tobacco of health problems. F1 wanting to preserve its image, sought to remove blatant advertising of tobacco from cars.

But this has led to tobacco companies thinking up innovative ways of advertising. This has led to the Italian team being sponsored by Mission Winnow. However many watchdog groups have caught them in the act and protested it.

Ferrari, by the way, are not the only team on the grid to be sponsored by a tobacco company. McLaren have their own association with British American Tobacco.

If F1 is serious about it’s image, they should look to ban tobacco companies. While doing so they should also ban their various brands from having any association with any team. When this happens, it will clean up the sport’s image considerably. 

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