An important step in public health has been made since the ban on all cigarette advertising in several countries around the world, especially in industrialized countries. Unfortunatly, this ban also affected sport sponsorship at the time.
We all know the weight that tobacco companies had in motor sports since the appearance of non automotive sponsorship in racing. This ban therefore raised fears of the worst for the future of these sports, but it arrived gradually, which gave the various players involved time to find other sources of financing. Thus, these bans did not start simultaneously in all the countries where automobile and motorcycle competitions were organized.
In this regard, the generation of racing fans of the 80s are able to immediately recognize the photos taken during the West German or British GPs of the time just from the old Grand Prix images where precisely the names of the cigarette brands did not appear on the cars and around the circuit, and were instead replaced by designs recalling, with more or less cleverness and creativity, the logos of these tobacco companies.
Niki Lauda's BRM Pillow. 1973 German Grand Prix - Nürburgring
Unfortunately, in certain countries having ended up following the example of Western Germany or the UK, these laws and their application are so complicated given the multiplicity of scenarios they encompass, that they sometimes go so far as to require the media, including websites and Internet forums domiciled in their territories, to blur the logos of cigarette brands appearing in old photos. Pushing the censorship limit this far makes them fall into pure revisionism.
Can we imagine the old images of city streets where certain brands advertisings would be blurred or erased with an image editor? this is reminiscent of certain practices of totalitarian countries. How can we assimilate these documents whose value is purely historical to indirect advertising? According to this consideration, we should not show old videos or photos where we see people smoking!... But this is only one drift among others experienced by our modern societies sliding towards hygienism and ideological securitarianism, far from any common sense.
Where it becomes ironic is when we note the blatant contradiction between the attitude towards the sponsorship of tobacco companies in motor sports - which had nevertheless benefited from preferential treatment for a long period during which advertising for cigarettes was banned elsewhere - and the same sport's lenient attitude towards alcoholic beverages. Not only can the latter's logos still be displayed on cars and around circuits, but one of the most typical images in motor sports is precisely that of the tradition of champagne ceremony on podium.
This tradition, although not so old, is strangely linked to motor sports and is hardly found in any other sport except sailing, and a few new extreme sports.
But the most blatant contradiction remains the ban on the display of any brand of cigarettes in these sports while smoking drivers were quite common until the 90s at least, and are certainly so today among amateurs (Motorsport is a sport that smokes after all, at least for the moment :)), and it is ultimately, at least in its amateur form, not one of the sports where physical condition is essential as in athletics or any other sport.
On the other hand, and this is where it becomes really funny and absurd, is that alcoholic drinks logos can be displayed not only during motorsports events, but in a manner as ostentatious as during the champagne ceremony on the podium. I guess what is the most dangerous? smoking while driving, or drinking and driving?...
How then can we explain this double standard? Is the weight of the alcohol industry greater than that of cigarettes? Maybe, but that's definitely not the reason. Elsewhere, in NASCAR for example, this practice of mandatory alcoholic showers on the podium does not exist, while at the Indianapolis 500 the winner drinks milk, which is just as ridiculous. But at least, milk has never been linked to traffic accidents. Some racing series in the USA have just started to introduce alcohol shower ceremonies, probably by imitation.
And what about the introduction of this ritual in some karting races among categories where kids and teenagers race?
Don't drink and drive ? seriously ?...
Can we consider this indirect and early incentive as consistent with the FIA's objectives in terms of road safety? can we be taken seriously when we thus associate in the unconscious of young people the passion for driving and the unbridled consumption of an alcoholic drink, while on these same kart circuits, the sale of these drinks is generally prohibited?
A (Large) cup for the winner!
Speaking of podiums, the cup has long been the classic reward for winners in various sports. Few wonder the reason for this choice. In fact - and this is where it is linked to the subject of this post - since ancient times, as part of parties celebrating victories, the need for cups made sense precisely for drinking. The bigger the cup, the better. And who deserves to celebrate success the most if not the winner, hence the size of the 1st's cup, always larger than that of his runners-up (with some exceptions :)
The cup in the past, was also useful for collecting as many rewards and gifts as possible, especially if it was large.
Over time, the tradition has remained but the meaning has been forgotten, it now has only symbolic value. Several champions do not burden themselves with this type of prize, which lost significance to their eyes. It is indeed difficult to tell at first glance under what circumstances this or that cup was given to them. Many like Niki Lauda got rid of them by giving them to friends for example. Others keep them in storage rooms in their attics or cellars.
Thankfully, there are creative and astute race organizers who started considering giving the winners something more meaningful than a common utensil with no connection to sports. Consequently, these individuals started requesting trophies that are both artistically valuable and evocative of the event from sculptors and other artists and craftsmen. These artists' inventiveness finally found a new platform to express itself, and the end products are stunningly beautiful original works with distinct personalities, much like what we see in Formula One and other elite competitions. Certainly not the sort of item a racing driver would get rid of.
It is also not necessary to work with an artist to design an exclusive trophy, since works of art around the theme of racing are legion, there is no shortage of choice in specialized shops. The most popular being the circuits layouts sculptures which are a hit in the automobilia world and on which a number of F1 Grand Prix, Moto GP, endurance and other major competition trophies are based.
British Grand Prix winner trophy
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