My apologies if this has been covered here before, but a search of the past archives here did not turn up any info. What's the significance of the large "Bar Code" looking markings on the Ferrari team's F1 cars this season? What company or sponsor do they denote? If there's some subtle logo meaning to this new design, then I will profess my inability to catch it. Any ideas? Cheers - DM
Someone might explain it better.....But, it has to do with the ban of sponsorship promoting smoking. The company is Marlboro.
Hey, Remember that the team is called "Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro" (The "SFM" that we see everywhere.) Now, the rules, outside of Monaco, China and a few others say that you can't even *suggest* a tobacco company (Hence the red over white "chevron" had to go as that implies "Marlboro" without saying it.) Hence the bar code - It no longer suggests Marlboro...... An alternative theory is that Stepneys "director of team development" (?) role was actually painting the cars and he's been using bar codes to pass secret messages to his buddy Coughlan....... Cheers, Ian
i prefer the Marlboro decals anytime. hate those bar code. should they have gone for Scuderia Ferrari Vodafone?
I think it's ugly as crap. Especially with that cartoonish slanted version they have now instead of regular vertical bars in the past.
I liked it when there was no advertising on F1 cars. The good old days. Decoding of the bar code revealed: If you can read this, I'm not fast enough.
You'll have to run the car through the check out line at the grocery store to find out what it really means
Man, that's obscure as can be. You'd think that some Marlboro cat would be able to come up with something better for his company than THAT. Or, maybe I'm looking at it all wrong. Instead of bars, maybe this is supposed to denote a row of cigarettes, all lined up? Cheers - DM
Exactly correct - It's the only way they can get away with sponsoring the team. If it wasn't obscure the anti-smoking lobby would be all over them. I still like my earlier idea that Stepneys "manager of team development" role was actually painting the cars and he's been using the bar codes to send data to his buddy Coughlan Cheers, Ian
Marlboro had to take the name off the car because of the new rules, but they still are Ferrari's sponsor. They don't want anyone else taking the space so they just put stupid barcode thing there. It's just there to prevent other sponsorship.
Possibly true, but since everyone already knows what it means, they could leave it blank and still it would advertise. Clever really. By not using their name or logo, it makes you identify with their name and logo even more. Clever like a fox! I look at it and says Marlboro to me and there's nothing there! Omigod, it's subliminal advertising!
