By Timothy S. Donahue
Top Takeaways:
- Court ruling: French appeals court upholds €250,000 fine over tobacco advertising in trailer
- Legal trigger: Judges cite repeated cigarette brand exposure without warning
- Industry signal: Decision underscores strict application of EU-era anti-tobacco promotion rules
A French court has reinforced the country’s strict stance on tobacco promotion—this time by targeting streaming content.
The Paris Court of Appeal fined Netflix €250,000 (US$295,288) after ruling that a trailer for its Michael Schumacher documentary violated French law by constituting illegal tobacco advertising.
In its March 31 decision, the court found Netflix Services France guilty of engaging in “direct and indirect tobacco advertising” between August 2021 and April 2022 for posting the trailer on YouTube.
At the center of the ruling was the use of archival Formula 1 footage, reports L’Amatuer de Cigare.
Judges said the trailer featured repeated, visible cigarette branding, including logos associated with historic tobacco sponsorships in the sport. The court rejected Netflix’s argument that the content was purely documentary.
It said the company “cannot seriously maintain that the trailer had no advertising character,” citing “the number of images containing cigarette brands and their logos”—23 appearances in just two minutes—“in the absence of any warning.”
The case was brought by the anti-smoking group Demain sera non fumeur, which was awarded €30,000 in damages and an additional €5,000 in legal fees. The organization welcomed the decision, which upholds the Paris Criminal Court’s 2023 ruling.
Netflix pushed back on the interpretation. “Using original archive material is common practice in the production of documentary films and series,” the company said, adding that it is considering an appeal to France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation.
The ruling underscores the ongoing tension between historical content and modern advertising restrictions. Formula 1, once heavily reliant on tobacco sponsorship, formally banned tobacco advertising in 2006 amid pressure from the World Health Organization and European regulators.
However, legacy branding persists in archival footage, creating potential legal exposure when used in contemporary media—particularly in jurisdictions such as France, where tobacco advertising laws are among the strictest in Europe.
Additionally, tobacco companies Philip Morris International (PMI) and British American Tobacco (BAT) are now promoting nicotine pouches through sponsorships of F1 teams – PMI is sponsoring the Ferrari team to promote its Zyn pouches, while BAT sponsors the McLaren team with its Velo brand.
Product logos are prominently displayed on the cars and race suits of these teams’ superstar drivers, including 2025 F1 world champion Lando Norris and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. These sponsorships are also promoted on social media to hundreds of millions of followers.
