Typophile

Subliminal Marlboro logo on F1 car

Christopher Tim...

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://bp2.blogger.com/_MybxAcUwkFI/SAcJ1-MymAI/AAAAAAAAAOs/J9gXe2IXFEg/s200/Ferrari%2BF2008%2BBahrain%2BGrand%2BPrix%2B(1).jpg&imgrefurl=http://carnoise.blogspot.com/2008/04/no-marlboro-logo-on-ferrari-formula-one.html&h=127&w=200&sz=6&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=6tkgPzbsTJmxkM:&tbnh=66&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmarlboro%2Blogo%2Band%2Bgrand%2Bprix%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN

Long short, Marlboro is no longer allowed to put their logo on the F1 car they used to put it on.

Instead, they have what looks like a bar code, and I suspect it to be a subliminal add in which the “bar code stripes” correspond to the vertical strokes of the wordmark. When I saw this for the first time, approximately 2 minutes ago, my first instinct was “is that some sort of font/wordmark?” With Phillip Morris footing the bill I’m positive they have a team of psychologists on this job.

I am currently trying to find a good shot of this bar code, yet I have also come across certain variations. Lhe link at the top of the page is the one I just saw. It also appears on the backs of the pit crew’s shirts &c.

Can anyone help crack this code?

Here is the link. If you click on the pictures below the text, you get them full size. Here is a grab. Those bars are everywhere, including on the helmet. Interesting!

How do you make a word a link?

>How do you make a word a link?

Scroll down.

“Link to content with...”

I don’t see any sort of crypto here. I think the idea is that the whole scheme is weird enough to be written about in the racing press, and enough fans will find out what the barcode and colors mean for this to be a relatively effective advertising campaign even without the Marlboro logo.

Captured from web.archive.org on 28 Jun 2008. view this capture