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JOHNNIE WALKER® and VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

In 2005, Johnnie Walker partnered one of the world’s most successful Formula One racing teams, Team McLaren Mercedes (now Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - VMM) to create a powerful platform to deliver the message of responsible drinking and safe driving to millions of people around the world.

The issues of responsibility and choice are at the heart of debates on alcohol. Johnnie Walker’s sponsorship of VMM forms part of parent company, Diageo’s, broader global commitment to be at the forefront of promoting responsible attitudes to alcohol. Johnnie Walker currently invests millions each year to promote responsible drinking messages in Grand Prix markets.

The professional, performance and technology-driven environment of Formula One presents a powerful platform to communicate with key consumers about staying in control, individual choice and behaviour and responsible drinking.

This approach to the sponsorship is fully supported by VMM whose reputation for success in Formula One has been built on a commitment to professionalism, precision and rigorous standards.

MIKA HAKKINEN - RESPONSIBLE DRINKING AMBASSADOR

As part of its responsible drinking programme, Johnnie Walker appointed two-time Formula One World Champion Mika Hakkinen as its responsible drinking ambassador for its Johnnie Walker Formula One sponsorship programme in November 2006. Mika’s role is to raise awareness of issues of responsible drinking, particularly in relation to driving.

Mika’s spectacular Formula One history, and his status as a role model for race fans around the world make him an ideal choice for the role. As the responsible drinking ambassador, Mika’s work focuses on the importance of designated drivers and direct engagement activities to promote anti-drink drive messages amongst Formula One race audiences.

In addition to Mika’s appointment, a series of country specific programmes have also been developed to address the issues of greatest priority in each market. Examples of some of the activities delivered include:

-          Shanghai: Responsibility in Heart, Safety on Road - a 100-day educational campaign in partnership with Shanghai Traffic Police during the run-up to the Grand Prix.

-          Monaco: Johnnie Walker Pit-Stop – a campaign using Juan Pablo Montoya in 2006 and Mika Hakkinen in 2007 to encourage responsible drinking amongst Monaco race goers.

-          Brazil: Piloto da Vez (Designated Driver) –, a complete through-the-line programme to promote the use of designated drivers for a night out that successfully ran in eight markets across Latin America

Mika Hakkinen’s appointment as responsible drinking ambassador for Johnnie Walker’s Formula One sponsorship programme coincides with Diageo’s new partnership with the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC).  The ETSC announced a two-year pan-European partnership with Diageo to identify best practices for reducing alcohol-related road fatalities and injuries among repeat drunk drivers and young and novice drivers. The programme will establish Europe’s first dedicated ‘Drink Driving Policy Network’, a programme sponsored by Diageo and run from ETSC’s Road Safety College in Brussels, which aims to promote road safety across Europe.

Johnnie Walker and Team McLaren Mercedes share great values.  Since 1909, when Johnnie Walker adopted the unmistakable figure of the Striding Man, the most famous brand of whisky in the world has become an icon which represents the values of a pioneering spirit, progress and innovation on a world level.   Almost 100 years later, Johnnie Walker took a great step forward in teaming up with Team McLaren Mercedes motor racing team, one of the undisputable leaders in the sport of Formula One.

A short history of McLaren Mercedes

Much like Johnnie Walker’s long and successful history of producing some of the world’s finest Scotch whiskies, McLaren’s run in Formula One has also been the envy of many past and current teams.

Formed in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren, Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Limited set out to build its first Formula One car. In 1966, the team made its debut at the Monaco Grand Prix. Two years later, in 1968, with Bruce McLaren at the wheel, the team captured its first race win.

Tragedy would strike the team when McLaren was killed while testing a car in 1970. However, with his vision and drive already deeply instilled in the team, they continued what he had started and in 1974 the team finally struck gold, winning its first Formula One Drivers' and Constructors' Championship, with Emerson Fittipaldi piloting the McLaren-Ford M23. 

Over 30 years later, the team’s achievements speak for themselves!

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