Netflix: Tobacco industry gets billion minutes of advertising from F1

F1’s partnership with Netflix for its “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” series is proving to be a major advertising vehicle for tobacco companies, according to a report from Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products (STOP), a global tobacco industry watchdog. According to the report, manufacturers Philip Morris International (PMI) and British American Tobacco (BAT) have benefited from more than one billion minutes of exposure from this audiovisual content, including in jurisdictions that have banned tobacco advertising.[1].

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), ratified by more than 180 Parties worldwide, including France and the European Union, requires governments to implement a comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. This ban on advertising, whether direct or indirect, includes a ban on cross-border advertising, promotion and sponsorship.[2].

Tobacco industry's long-standing interest in F1

The links between the tobacco industry and motorsports and motorsports are not new. Philip Morris International is a leading historical sponsor of Formula 1: since 1971, it is estimated that the manufacturer has spent nearly $2.4 billion on sponsorship in F1. For its part, BAT is not far behind, since the company has invested more than $450 million in Formula 1.

These long-standing investments continue today, as the two tobacco companies have invested around $40 million in 2022 alone in sponsoring F1. The tobacco industry's interest in Formula 1 is particularly strategic: F1 claims very strong growth in popularity, and some races are breaking audience records. The Formula One Group thus claimed to have a cumulative television audience of 445 million unique viewers in 2021, with an average of 70.3 million viewers per race.

A growth strategy that coincides with the interests of manufacturers

According to the STOP report, Formula 1's growth strategy is aligned with the interests of cigarette manufacturers. Thus, new races are scheduled in markets where manufacturers have growth ambitions, such as North, Central and South America, but also in the Eastern Mediterranean basin. In the United States, F1 is growing particularly, with three new races planned for 2023, suggesting record television audiences, and therefore strong exposure to the brands of the manufacturers' new products: the Vuse electronic cigarette for BAT, and the IQOS heated tobacco device for PMI.

Significant audiences, younger than traditional F1 spectators

The series "Formula 1: Drive to Survive" seeks to attract new audiences, by recruiting beyond traditional F1 fans. The bet seems to have paid off: according to STOP, spectators are on average younger than F1 spectators: 16% of the latter are under 34, compared to 46% of people who watched the audiovisual content. In addition, the report notes a clear increase in the interest of female audiences in this sport, which until now was overwhelmingly watched by men.

In other words, the series' editorial strategy is perfectly aligned with that of the tobacco industry: targeting a young audience, and deploying a specific strategy aimed at women. In total, the authors of the research point out that half of all episodes contained a tobacco company brand image in the opening minute, while viewers will have been exposed to an average of more than 34 minutes of programs containing tobacco-related content, or approximately 1.1 billion minutes of cumulative footage worldwide.

STOP urges public authorities to react to this strategy of circumventing the advertising ban

The platform Netflix had already been singled out for the strong presence of tobacco and nicotine products in its content, including those consumed by a young audience. Faced with this partnership strategy between Netflix, the tobacco industry and Formula 1, the STOP organization:

• Recommends that the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) completely and definitively ban any partnership between the tobacco industry and Formula 1;
• Calls on governments and national health bodies to monitor Formula 1 to prevent these advertising strategies;
• Calls on governments to demand that Netflix remove content from the platform in countries where advertising for these products is prohibited;
• Recommends that public authorities hold platforms and actors involved in violating the advertising ban to account.

FT

[1] STOP, Driving addiction: F1, Netflix and Cigarette Company Advertising, 08/03/2023, (accessed the same day)

https://exposetobacco.org/wp-content/uploads/F1-Netflix-Driving-Addiction.pdf

[2] WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Article 13

https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/42812/9242591017.pdf

National Committee Against Smoking |