Javascript Disabled Detected

You currently have javascript disabled. Several functions may not work. Please re-enable javascript to access full functionality.

Enquiry into the historic BAT brands in Motorsport

Started by jennifer.c , Apr 20 2006 11:59

Please log in to reply

34 replies to this topic

#1 jennifer.c

New Member

4 posts
Joined: April 06

Posted 20 April 2006 - 11:59

I am looking to find out about all the British American Tobacco brands that had liveries in Motor sport. I know of Lucky Strike, 555, JPS, Gold Leaf, Players, Rothmans, Winfield, Barclay, Viceroy, Kool, Peter Stuyvesant and Hollywood. I'm aware that they have sponsored many sports, however, if you can add to my list I would be most grateful!

There also may be some really random events that have happened over the years, so any crazy concepts are welcome!

Look back in time and enlighten me....

Many thanks!

j :yawn:

#2 Rainer Nyberg

Member

1,768 posts
Joined: October 00

Posted 20 April 2006 - 17:46

I believe Skoal is/was a BAT brand.

They sponsored the RAM Formula 1 team in the mid-80s. They were also seen on Indycars and Group C Porsche's of the same era.

#3 Twin Window

Nostalgia Host

6,611 posts
Joined: May 04

Posted 20 April 2006 - 17:49

Originally posted by jennifer.c

I am looking to find out about all the British American Tobacco brands that had liveries in Motor sport.

Would you mind telling us why?

#4 f1steveuk

Member

3,588 posts
Joined: June 04

Posted 20 April 2006 - 17:51

Working for Mr Philip Morris!!!???

#5 Allen Brown

Member

5,540 posts
Joined: December 00

Posted 20 April 2006 - 18:22

Occupation: Haymarket BAT Account Manager

#6 ian senior

Member

2,165 posts
Joined: September 02

Posted 21 April 2006 - 07:58

Originally posted by Allen Brown
Occupation: Haymarket BAT Account Manager

So now we can look forward to an article in Autosport - "100 greatest cigarette liveries".

#7 macoran

Member

3,989 posts
Joined: August 05

Posted 21 April 2006 - 09:46

Early 70s South African F1.
Gunston was a brand of the South African United Tobacco Company
Lucky Strike a brand of United Tobacco ..........was there any link
at all between the two ?..or absolutely non ?

#8 Allen Brown

Member

5,540 posts
Joined: December 00

Posted 21 April 2006 - 10:11

I'm not clear on how many tobacco companies have been bought by BAT since being competitors in the period we're talking about.

Imperial Tobacco were the owners of the John Player Special brand, weren't they. Are they now part of BAT? They (IT) also owned, or came to own, West, Rizla and Embassy.

It's all baffling to me. Probably because I don't smoke.

Allen

#9 BRG

Member

25,951 posts
Joined: September 99

Posted 21 April 2006 - 10:29

Indeed! We really need some sort of 'family tree' of tobacco companies and brands showing which absorbed which. For example, what happened to Gallahers - or are they still independent?

#10 Vitesse2

Administrator

41,874 posts
Joined: April 01

Posted 21 April 2006 - 10:35

No, Imperial are a separate company, formed by an amalgamation of John Player and WD&HO Wills (and other smaller firms). Their main brands are now Lambert & Butler and Golden Virginia rolling tobacco.

The other main UK player is Gallaher, who have been active in motor sport with their Benson & Hedges brand. They also own Silk Cut, who were heavily involved in sailing.

I'm sure Hieronymus can enlighten us on Gunston, but I'm pretty sure they were a Rhodesian company, not South African.

However, the waters do tend to get muddy, because different marketing arrangements can apply in various markets: for example B&H isn't a Gallaher brand world-wide

#11 D-Type

Member

9,705 posts
Joined: February 03

Posted 21 April 2006 - 10:35

I think that it's something like BAT sell Imperial Tobacco brands outside UK

#12 ensign14

Member

62,010 posts
Joined: December 01

Posted 21 April 2006 - 10:43

Originally posted by Rainer Nyberg
I believe Skoal is/was a BAT brand.

They sponsored the RAM Formula 1 team in the mid-80s. They were also seen on Indycars and Group C Porsche's of the same era.

Wasn't Skoal Bandit something to do with the Jackie Gleason/Burt Reynolds film? They sponsored it or something so named a product after the Bandit? Certainly it was the Skoal Bandit livery in F1 (and I think in Group C as well). The 33 Porsche 956 in 1984 was green, the 55 brown - was that Skoal Lite? (Or heavy?)

#13 Vitesse2

Administrator

41,874 posts
Joined: April 01

Posted 21 April 2006 - 10:47

Imperial brands

#14 Vitesse2

Administrator

41,874 posts
Joined: April 01

Posted 21 April 2006 - 10:51

Gallahers operate in more than 70 countries .....

Gallaher brands

#15 Allen Brown

Member

5,540 posts
Joined: December 00

Posted 21 April 2006 - 10:53

Wikipedia is quite useful for this. BAT was originally a joint venture and half-owned by Imperial which is why is still distributes some Player brands.

Rothmans was bought by BAT in 1999 so I guess BAT can lay claim to the Rothmans sponsorship in the past. However, I don't see that BAT had anything to do with Imperial Tobacco's involvement via JPS.

Allen

#16 Vitesse2

Administrator

41,874 posts
Joined: April 01

Posted 21 April 2006 - 10:55

BAT brands - click on the links on the right. Also gives an explanation of how B&H and John Player Gold Leaf are marketed by them outside the UK.

#17 jennifer.c

New Member

4 posts
Joined: April 06

Posted 21 April 2006 - 12:26

Hey forum friends,

Thanks for all your imput, it's lead me to questions I never beleived I'd need to ask! There is just so much history and they've obviously sponsored so many things! Will I ever nail the whole thing, it's just so vast!

Hi Stuart, not sure which post was yours due to name. say hello to Mike for me!

Thanks again

J :cat:

#18 Twin Window

Nostalgia Host

6,611 posts
Joined: May 04

Posted 21 April 2006 - 14:17

Hi Jen

Mike says "how was your leaving do?".

Pass on my regards to JC. I trust he's still suitably unbalanced...

#19 jennifer.c

New Member

4 posts
Joined: April 06

Posted 21 April 2006 - 14:48

Stuart,

Yes, I'd say most of us at LAT are suitably unbalanced-Me particularly as my boyfriend had his leaving do last night....4 o clocker-Whoops!

You guys must have loads of relevant info in your archives, maybe I could organise a trip over?

J :cat:

#20 Terry Walker

Member

3,005 posts
Joined: July 05

Posted 21 April 2006 - 15:01

Gallaher - don't they own that art deco building on the A40 at Perivale, the old Hoover building with the Tesco out the back? I did a guided tour there about 4 years ago. Check out this: Any guesses?

#21 Twin Window

Nostalgia Host

6,611 posts
Joined: May 04

Posted 21 April 2006 - 15:03

The bus station toilets in Oxford have a similar arrangement.

Unsurprisingly, I don't have a photo...

#22 jennifer.c

New Member

4 posts
Joined: April 06

Posted 21 April 2006 - 15:07

Looks like a communal bidet! :rotfl:

#23 BRG

Member

25,951 posts
Joined: September 99

Posted 21 April 2006 - 15:08

Originally posted by Terry Walker
Gallaher - don't they own that art deco building on the A40 at Perivale

Don't know about that, but come to think of it, they have the offices to the right-hand side of the entrance to the Brooklands Museum (along the old Campbell circuit).

#24 Terry Walker

Member

3,005 posts
Joined: July 05

Posted 21 April 2006 - 15:15

It was Gallaher back when I visited, but in business "anything can happen in the next half hour". I only associate Gallaher with a short sponsorship of the big race at Bathurst way back - the Gallaher 500 - if that's any advancement on the original query. This pic is the amazing main entrance to the building. It's like that inside, too.

#25 WHITE

Member

1,498 posts
Joined: July 05

Posted 21 April 2006 - 17:03

Originally posted by jennifer.c
I am looking to find out about all the British American Tobacco brands that had liveries in Motor sport. I know of Lucky Strike, 555, JPS, Gold Leaf, Players, Rothmans, Winfield, Barclay, Viceroy, Kool, Peter Stuyvesant and Hollywood. I'm aware that they have sponsored many sports, however, if you can add to my list I would be most grateful!

Hollywood was a brazilian brand belonging to the tobacco company " Souza Cruz ". They sponsored the driver Alex Dias Ribeiro in the 70s. But, had this company already been taken over by BAT by then ?

#26 Twin Window

Nostalgia Host

6,611 posts
Joined: May 04

Posted 21 April 2006 - 17:52

Seeing as Rothmans International were backing Ian Scheckter in the other March, it could be that Hollywood was a sister brand.

#27 David McKinney

Member

14,156 posts
Joined: November 00

Posted 21 April 2006 - 18:13

In New Zealand in the 1960s and '70s, the local Rothmans company marketed Pall Mall, Peter Stuyvesant, Cambridge and I think Winfield as well as Rothmans, all of which had some connection with motorsport, as well as Rembrandt, which AFAIR didn't.
The other major NZ company at the time, W D & H O Wills, did Gold Leaf and Benson & Hedges, but I can't remember who sold Players (and JPS)

#28 subh

Member

1,191 posts
Joined: July 04

Posted 23 April 2006 - 00:09

Originally posted by ensign14

Wasn't Skoal Bandit something to do with the Jackie Gleason/Burt Reynolds film? They sponsored it or something so named a product after the Bandit? Certainly it was the Skoal Bandit livery in F1 (and I think in Group C as well). The 33 Porsche 956 in 1984 was green, the 55 brown - was that Skoal Lite? (Or heavy?)

Skoal Bandit also sponsored Suzuki in 500cc Grands Prix in the 1980s.

#29 barrykm

Member

808 posts
Joined: February 02

Posted 23 April 2006 - 06:29

Originally posted by macoran
Early 70s South African F1.
Gunston was a brand of the South African United Tobacco Company
Lucky Strike a brand of United Tobacco ..........was there any link
at all between the two ?..or absolutely non ?

The only link would have been higher up the corporate accounting tree since on-track they were competitors (John Love vs. Dave Charlton) and in the market place too as they were both untipped cigarettes with 'toasted' blends, both being quite robust (Gunston was quite a good smoke actually, and their sponsorship caused this then-schoolboy to switch brands for a while..... :smoking:

). I

With Gunston I'm not sure whether the Rhodesian link was real (perhaps initially) or just a marketing ploy...?

#30 Ross Stonefeld

Member

70,106 posts
Joined: August 99

Posted 23 April 2006 - 07:05

Originally posted by jennifer.c
Stuart,

Yes, I'd say most of us at LAT are suitably unbalanced

It's all relative. To those of us with attention spans shorter than our hair, it can seem like walking into a freezer at times :kiss:

#31 Ross Stonefeld

Member

70,106 posts
Joined: August 99

Posted 23 April 2006 - 07:07

Originally posted by WHITE

Hollywood was a brazilian brand belonging to the tobacco company " Souza Cruz ". They sponsored the driver Alex Dias Ribeiro in the 70s. But, had this company already been taken over by BAT by then ?

They also sponsored drivers/teams in CART in the late 90s, including at least one season where they sponsored two drivers on two different teams. Final run was when they moved with their team and/or driver to the IRL before the tobacco bans came into effect.

If you give me some time to think about it and look at some old photos I could come up with a list.

But The Onions might beat me to it.

#32 Ray Bell

Member

80,268 posts
Joined: December 99

Posted 23 April 2006 - 11:15

Originally posted by David McKinney
In New Zealand in the 1960s and '70s, the local Rothmans company marketed Pall Mall, Peter Stuyvesant, Cambridge and I think Winfield as well as Rothmans, all of which had some connection with motorsport, as well as Rembrandt, which AFAIR didn't.
The other major NZ company at the time, W D & H O Wills, did Gold Leaf and Benson & Hedges, but I can't remember who sold Players (and JPS)

Pall Mall did nothing in Australia, nor Cambridge, and Winfield was remarkable for staying away from sponsorships for years... the only thing they did was run TV ads and back Paul Hogan. One card remarked that they were taking the market by storm by backing pub riots and gang bangs while all the other makes were doing their best to appear 'up-market' and keeping the right company.

Rothmans was on the Matich cars for a while... and you had Dennis Marwood wearing their signs, wasn't it, David? Was Chesterfield one of their brands, or were they from some other company?

W D & H O Wills did a lot of race and circuit sponsorship, as Rothmans did, and had the John Player and JPS logos on Gardner/Gricemobiles, followed up by Craven Mild.

Where did Peter Jackson come from... their name was on the Nissans and then Fords under Glenn Seton, then they had that strange 'Pack Leader' signage on Alan Jones' Falcon when sporting sponsorships using cigarette brands were banned.

#33 David McKinney

Member

14,156 posts
Joined: November 00

Posted 23 April 2006 - 11:56

We had the Rothmans Driver Promotion Scheme, aka Ecurie Rothmans (though I think never officially), that ran the 2.5 Cooper-Climax T66 for Bruce Abernethy and later Dennis Marwood. The same organisation negotiated a deal for Robbie Francevic to drive a V8 BRM in the 1968 Tasman series but he decided it was a heap of sh** and the deal never came to anything. Never knowingly undersold himself, did our Robbie :lol: