Anti-alcohol lobby wil verbod op alcoholreclame in F1

Mariann Skar, secretaris-generaal van de European Alcohol Policy Alliance, heeft in een open brief aan Todt haar bezorgdheid uitgedrukt over de impact van de deal met Heineken, die meer dan 200 miljoen euro waard is over zeven jaar. Het logo van Heineken zal bij verschillende races verschijnen langs het circuit en het biermerk belooft ook een enorme marketingcampagne te voeren via onder andere sociale media.

De European Alcohol Policy Alliance is daar verre van gelukkig mee, want deze overeenkomst zou niet samengaan met de campagne van de FIA om het aantal verkeersdoden te verminderen. "De F1 zou zich moeten afvragen of het een evenement is van de autosport of van een alcoholmerk", luidt het. "Toen we de Grand Prix van Monaco 2015 in de gaten hielden, vonden we 11 verwijzingen naar alcoholmerken per minuut, of een referentie elke vijf seconden. Wat gaat dat zijn als Heineken erbij komt als hoofsponsor? Als zowel de sport als de drankenproducenten gezien willen worden als verantwoorde industrieën, dan zouden ze deze deal moeten stopzetten en af moeten stappen van alcoholsponsoring in de Formule 1."

De volledige, originele brief is hieronder te lezen.

Dear Mr Todt, 

Reaction to F1 and its Heineken sponsorship deal 

Heineken recently launched their new sponsorship agreements with F1, a five year deal estimated to be worth $150 m. With this new deal, Heineken will place themselves as one of the main sponsors of the sport, with event name and circuit branding, TV commercials and other promotional activities.

This is a major concern because alcohol and driving should not be mixed. Alcohol brands are now dominating sponsorships in F1, linking a popular motor sport to one of the major killers on our roads, drink driving.

Alcohol marketing has a powerful effect on society, in particular on young people. As you very well know, F1 is a sport heavily sponsored by alcohol producers, even before this new deal. A report on alcohol brand exposure during the F1 Monaco Grand Prix last year showed that there were on average 11 references to alcohol brands per minute – averaging one every five seconds. The promotion of alcohol alongside iconic sporting events reinforces and exaggerates pro-alcohol social norms. The Monaco Grand Prix has a worldwide audience of around 500 million people, and with the new deal in addition to the previous sponsorship agreement, F1 is close to becoming more an event for granting the global exposure of alcohol brands than a sporting event. 

We have previously written to you about this concern, and in your response you declare yours and FIA’s commitment to road safety, referring to your work with the ‘Action for Road Safety’ programme, in addition to yourself being a UN Special Envoy for Road Safety. 

We would like to remind you that drink driving is one of the key killers on the road. It is therefore worrying that F1 is now bringing the link between alcohol brands and motor sport even closer together. 

We would like to request that you take this issue seriously and consider moving away from these sponsorship agreements, as you did with tobacco sponsorship. FIA is not without responsibilities, being the governing body of F1 and also being one of the shareholders in the sport. 

Mariann Skar, Secretary General in the European Alcohol Policy Alliance