MotoGP, Ducati: with Mission Winnow, Philip Morris makes a splash

At Ducati, we have it in the cigar… We don’t just dissect the technical regulations of MotoGP. We also manage to play with the ban on tobacco advertising. Judge for yourself: official presentation with great fanfare took place at the headquarters of the cowboys' favorite tobacco company without his name ever being mentioned. And on the fairings, we only read “Mission Winnow” which doesn’t remind us of him. But there is no smoke without fire...

In the mid-2000s, the European Union gradually banned advertising for tobacco products such as cigarettes. With almost two thirds of MotoGP race weekends organized in Europe, this meant the end of sponsorship from major tobacco brands, such as Marlboro, Camel or Gauloises. At least theoretically.

Indeed, Ducati received, just like Ferrari in Formula 1, considerable financial support from the parent company of Marlboro, Philip Morris, even if the logo of the famous cigarette brand had disappeared both from the fairings of the motorcycles and from the team clothing. The fact that Ducati continues to partner with Marlboro due to the red and white design of the motorcycles and the possibility of offering commercial partners special experiences during MotoGP events, such as laps aboard the Randy Mamola's two-seater Ducati has won the loyalty of Philip Morris, who transferred several million euros to Borgo Panigale.

In 2019, we went even further. As we saw it coming, Philip Morris once again dominates the team name and the motorcycle livery, as it did in the Ducati-Marlboro era. But instead of the logo and name of a well-known cigarette brand, the team is now called "Mission Winnow Ducati", with "Mission Winnow" lettering crossing the fairing of the Desmosedici GP19.

But what is “Mission Winnow”? This is a campaign from the Philip Morris group, which, according to the official version, promotes a future… without smoke, where the wheat is sorted from the chaff. Never mind the contradiction: the legal loophole is exploited. Advertising is prohibited for tobacco industry brands or products, but permitted for a charitable campaign. Here, in the direction of a better future for smokers and their environment…

Nice shot. But in the world of mechanical competition, we know this strategy recalls the site motorsport store under the pen of Markus Zörweg. Because it is well known that it is not a question of doing what is expressly authorized. On the other hand, success has always gone to those who have considered what is not forbidden...