NOVEMBER 28, 2019

Tobacco giant expands McLaren backing

British American Tobacco (BAT) will expand its sponsorship of the McLaren team in 2020, it has emerged.

British American Tobacco (BAT) will expand its sponsorship of the McLaren team in 2020, it has emerged.

This year, the way Ferrari sponsor Philip Morris (Marlboro) and BAT have used their backing has been highly controversial as they promote smoking alternatives.

Ferrari's campaign, called Mission Winnow, insists it is unrelated to Marlboro or tobacco, while BAT has run 'A better tomorrow' branding on the McLaren.

"McLaren will provide more promotional spots on its cars next year and BAT will also be a partner for the team as it returns to full-time Indycar competitions in the US," the Canadian finance news source BNN Bloomberg reported.

The report added that BAT will launch a new vaping brand this weekend in Abu Dhabi, and will run branding of tobacco-heating and oral nicotine products on next year's McLaren.

(GMM)