Q & A with BAT's Gary Carey

TD: What exactly happened at Monza?

Gary Carey: "The Italian authorities deemed the race to be a national event rather than an international event, not a cross-border one, and said that they were happy for it to go ahead as a branded race. But it was still in contravention of the EU legislation that was in place, and that was that. Philip Morris (Marlboro) at one stage intended to go branded, and Gallaher's just slipped up. They ran branded in the first session of practice and then changed.

"But to be honest there is just so much confusion around this whole thing, from the EU legislation and how it is dealt with locally. You've got the situation where the Germans are challenging that aspect of EU legislation, which should be interesting, and there are other countries who also agree that the race is a national event and say they are happy for us to brand. But we are going to fall into line with the bigger picture, which is the EU legislation."

TD: Why?

Carey: "Because it's something we've planned for. We've known it's been coming for several years."

TD: Didn't Bernie Ecclestone have an authorisation in Monza signed at government level?

Carey: "Well he did, yes. I think it was the Italian finance minister. But the local magistrates court in Monza then over-ruled that, locally, on the Friday, so anyone running branded could be prosecuted. There were so many things going on."

TD: I heard it was an issue left over from the year before because, as I understand, there is a system where you pay a fine and then run branded anyway. There was a suggestion that Ferrari hadn't paid from the previous year and so there was a judgement against them. But that it would be over-ruled by the government document when appealed. Was it a case of everyone assuming Ferrari would run branded and when they didn't, following suit?

Carey: "I don't know whether that was the reason that the tribunal slapped the injunction down but as far as we were concerned we just fell into line with the EU legislation and that was it. We will not brand at races within the EU and we will brand where permitted outside of the EU."

TD: Philip Morris is based in Switzerland, so were you concerned that if there was an action from the British government, it is BAT that would have copped it?

Carey: "Yes. At Monza we actually cleared quite a bit up because all of the tobacco guys got together and said right, what are we going to do? If we're given these local exemptions, what are we doing? Do we look to the bigger picture? And all of us have agreed that we don't brand within the EU, even Philip Morris.

"So whether Germany, Spain, Italy, whomever, comes with local exemptions, then it doesn't matter and we will follow the spirit of EU law even if it hasn't been implemented. There was a lot of confusion but now it's absolutely clear for everyone. Because we were going to European races with lawyers constantly on the phone."

Carey: "We could continue to be involved in Formula One, but we decided five years ago that as part of our own regulation we would pull out of international motorsport by the end of 2006. Various government authorities have implemented their legislation against tobacco, so Philip Morris will go on beyond 2006, which they can legally do outside of the EU. So they'll brand at races such as Bahrain, Malaysia and wherever the local law permits. But we made a public statement and we've planned for this for the last six or seven years, so it's just in our plan. We will continue to support BAR (although not own it) until the end of the 2006."

TD: Where do you stand on branding without livery, running without word identification?

Carey: "We're not into that. To us, you're either branded or unbranded. The device we have, we call it Racing Revolution, we've been through the legal hoops on that, taking counsel's opinion on whether there is any recognition between this and the Lucky Strike brand. No there isn't, but it gives us consistency in terms of the look and feel of the car. You can't have nothing on the car. So as far as we're concerned, you're either branded or unbranded and anyone who tries to do anything different will be caught up with eventually."

TD: Would you agree that there are possibly just two motor racing brands in the history of tobacco sponsorship in F1 that could run with a colour scheme and no words - Marlboro and JPS?

Carey: "The only way to find out is to do some consumer research, which generally doesn't seem to show too well. We know by our consumers from years gone by that even when we had our device without the wording, they just didn't get it. Your car is on the television for a split second whizzing past at 200mph and you just have to be as big and bold as you can to get the recognition. Come with anything else, and they just don't get it.

"But you're right, the sponsors that have been in the sport for 30 years are bound to get some of that residual effect. But how much? And is it worth a $50-60 million title sponsorship package? I'd suggest not. You're possibly going to have five or six branded races in the future and that will diminish as the years go by. It's just not worth investing in."