Honda made a bold move in deciding to replace the advertising on
their Formula One cars with a picture of the Earth to raise
awareness of global warming.
Even if cynics suspect that the new look unveiled this week may
be more style than substance, it at least makes a change from a
team that has regularly promised the earth and then failed to
deliver on the track.
They have broken out of the conventional sponsorship mindset
which dictates that companies only give money in return for space
on the car.
There is no doubt that they want to be seen to be green, even if
a Formula One team trumpeting its environmental credentials smacks
of double standards.
"Climate change is probably the single biggest issue facing the
global community and F1 is not immune from it," said team boss Nick
Fry.
"We believe that F1 with its huge global profile and cutting
edge technology can play an important role in not only highlighting
the issues but also playing our part in developing solutions."
He sounded serious and he had better be. With all car
manufacturers under intense pressure to reduce the greenhouse gases
emitted by their own products, Formula One does not need any more
hot air.
The irony of race drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello
flying thousands of miles to attend the presentation before
returning to Bahrain for the final pre-season test did not go
unnoticed on Monday.
Some critics branded it all so much 'greenwash' but Honda, who
have promised part of the revenues generated from donations by fans
visiting the www.myearthdream.com website to make a pledge and have
their name inserted on a pixel on the car, dismissed any suggestion
of a marketing ploy.
"Beneath the paint lies a commitment to supporting the
environment and a strong call to action," the team said.
Pop Idol influence
Some F1 regulars suspected that the lack of a title sponsor,
following the departure of British American Tobacco's Lucky Strike,
had influenced the decision.
The hand of 'Pop Idol' creator and music impresario Simon
Fuller, whose 19 Entertainment was hired by the team last year to
come up with a new marketing strategy, was seen by many.
If some of the next day's coverage sounded more than a little
sceptical, it was because the idea of an environmentally-friendly
Formula One car remains a contradiction in terms to most
people.
Beneath the RA107s wafer-thin paint lies the same old V8 engine
slurping fossil fuel like there was no tomorrow.
There is not a serious racing driver who, given the choice,
would willingly take a more environmentally-friendly car over one
that was quicker. Even getting them to give up their private jets
will be a challenge.
Critics can point to circuits, such as Nuerburgring or Spa, that
bring traffic gridlock to areas of natural beauty and to the amount
of carbon dioxide generated by flying the whole circus around the
world -- not to mention the fans and media.
"Formula One is a sitting duck for the environmentalist lobby
and the sport knows it," said the Times newspaper commenting on the
launch.
"There is no doubt that Formula One, and the large-scale car
manufacturers who increasingly bankroll it, could contribute to
progress on the environment," wrote Andrew Baker in Tuesday's Daily
Telegraph.
"They could do this by locking all the cars away in a garage,
throwing away the key and devoting the billions that they spend on
the sport to green research."
Honda boss Fry recognised that Formula One and the environment
"may not seem exactly bedfellows" but added that change was
inevitable.
"We cannot stop moving around the world, we cannot stop driving
cars to some extent, we cannot stop heating our homes, but we have
to do something," he said.
(China Daily via Agencies March 2, 2007)