Blurred lines in Marlboro advertising
The furor surrounding claims that Marlboro were subliminally advertising their logo on the rear of Formula One cars is a great example of how the tobacco industry will seek to communicate their brands in the face of ever tightening regulations.
The debate here should not be whether or not Ferrari were advertising their title sponsor’s product, but rather to what extent this is even subliminal!
Unless there is a new trend for frivolous decoration in Formula One, it is not a stretch to assume the barcode device in question is advertising.
More specifically, with the Ferrari in motion you could see how the proportion of white to black to red on this design would look like the bottom half of a pack of cigarettes – that is, until they make cigarette packaging plain.
This debate reinforces the argument that plain packaging will, in the long run, dilute the efficacy of brand communication. Currently the visual recognition of the Marlboro brand is so ingrained that even a shadow of it would be recognized.
Marlboro would pass, brand futurist Martin Lindstrom’s smash test with flying colours. The idea behind this test being that even when smashed into pieces, many other aspects of the product are recognizable in their own right.
Lindstrom’s theory is accented by a warning to brands that any lapse in consistency or persistence could mean a compromise to its smashability. And so, this is where tightening packaging and advertising regulations will pinch and eventually choke tobacco brands great and small.
There will be little point in expensive sponsorship campaigns as the association (subliminal or otherwise) will be lost in-store.
