6 Sports Sponsorships That Seem Ridiculous Today

Times have changed but one thing still remains, sports sponsorship remains lucrative and is an important revenue stream for sports. The types of ads that are acceptable and legal has changed over the last few decades. Let’s take a look at sponsorships of yesteryear that seem ridiculous today.

1. Malboro – Ferrari (F1 Racing)

In 1973 Malboro began sponsoring the Ferrari F1 team the year after becoming the selling cigarette in the world. It was a partnership that would become the longest in F1 history spanning 50 years. Strict rules on advertising led to the banning of tobacco advertising in F1 in 2007.

Ferrari and Malboro kept pushing the limits beyond 2007 by using subliminal messaging such as barcoded Malboro logos that couldn’t be made out explicitly but you knew what it was. In 2018, the Mission Winnow logo that was on Ferrari F1 cars drew criticism as the logo looked like a cigarette and there were obvious hints of the Malboro brand.

Mission Winnow was an initiative by Philip Morris – the owner of Malboro – which was “promoting new technologies”, another attempt of pushing the boundaries. The Ferrari and Malboro partnership concluded in 2022 but it’s hard to fathom how it ended up going on for as long as it did.

https://youtu.be/byN7jA8UxXQ

2. Wang Laboratories – Oxford United (Football)

Oxford United enjoyed some of their best seasons in their history with Wang Laboratories emblazoned across the front of their jersey. The business was founded in 1951 and was trying to compete against computer giants IBM. They generated revenues of $3 billion mostly in the US but weren’t big in the UK.

Wang Laboratories sponsored Oxford for about £300,000 a season but its the large “Wang” across the front of their jersey that has left a long lasting impression and is a rare and highly sort after jersey.

3. Benson & Hedges (One-Day Cricket)

Benson & Hedges was synonymous with cricket through the 80’s and 90’s. The annual one day international cricket Australian Tri-Series was contested between Australia and two international touring teams. From 1979 it was known as the Benson & Hedges World Series up until 1996 when laws in Australia limited tobacco advertising.

Cricket had an association with Benson & Hedges in the United Kingdom too, with the Benson & Hedges Cup the name of a first-class counties one-day cricket competition in England and Wales. It remained one of crickets longest sponsorship arrangements from 1972 through to 2002. A ban on tobacco advertising in the UK ended up folding the competition with the loss of advertising revenue. Again, it’s hard to imagine tobacco advertising in this day and age.

4. St. Johnstone FC – Bonar Textiles (Football)

St Johnstone F.C. is a Scottish football club based in Perth, Scotland. In 1991-98 textile company Bonar Textiles sponsored the football club with the word “Bonar” at the front of the jersey. It probably described how the fans were feeling during the first half of the sponsorship partnership as the club was enjoying time in the top division of Scottish football after spending time in the lower divisions in the previous decades.

The clubs form would become flaccid and they would limp out of the top division toward the end of the partnership. St. Johnstone FC is now a strong Scottish Premier League team and won a historic Scottish Cup double in 2021. Bonar has since developed into Low & Bonar and has positions in industrial markets across the globe. It’s lovely to see the Bonar partnership ending well.

5. Cristiano Ronaldo – Kentucky Fried Chicken (Football)

I’m not sure how good KFC is for your health compared to Coca-Cola. Cristiano Ronaldo famously caused $4b worth of losses on the carbonated drink company during a Euro 2020 pre-match press conference. He put two bottles of Coca-Cola aside and rolled his eyes, picking up a bottle of water instead and saying “Agua”, the Portuguese word for water in an attempt to persuade people to make a healthier choice.

In a KFC ad in 2013, Ronaldo scores a penalty and celebrates by tucking into a bucket of fried chicken. It’s crazy hypocrisy when you think of Ronaldo’s strict diet and his godly physique, but the ad was shown 8 years before his shun of Coca-Cola and it’s hard to imagine Ronaldo shooting another ad for the fried chicken giants.

6. Pooh Jeans – AC Milan (Football)

Italian football giants AC Milan had one of the most funniest sponsorship arrangements in history. During the 1981-82 season the front of the Milan jersey was emblazoned with “Pooh”. It was in reference to “Pooh Jeans” which was a casual jeans clothing brand created in 1972.

It certainly gathered peoples attention however Milan can be forgiven as they may not have understood the meaning of the homophonic English word which we know as the “number two”.