- State Express 555
State Express 555 is a brand of
cigarette manufactured byBritish American Tobacco . It was first launched in1895 and is a very popular brand inAsia , especiallyChina where it is BAT's most popular brand. State Express 555 cigarettes are positioned on the market as a London and British understanding of what a good tobacco product should be.ponsorship
555 is perhaps best known for its sponsorship of
motorsports . 555 World Racing logos were seen on SubaruWorld Rally Championship cars from1993 to2004 .cite web| title = Subaru Manufacturer Profile & Rally History| work = Rallye-Info.com| url = http://www.rallye-info.com/carmake_profile.asp?make=9| accessdate = 2008-02-25] ( the actual 555 brand placement become less frequent into the 2000s, until it was dropped altogether for2005 ).Subaru continues to use 555's blue and yellow colour scheme as its WRC livery, but with the manufacturer's own logos in place of the 555 brand.British American Racing in1999 originally wanted to brandRicardo Zonta 's car in the blue & yellow livery of 555 World Racing, whilst brandingJacques Villenueve 's car withLucky Strike colours. However, the move was blocked by theFIA , and they were forced to run two similar liveries. They opted to have the Lucky Strike brand on the left of the car and 555 World Racing on the right, with a zip going along the middle of the nose. It was highly unpopular, and so for2000 , they chose to just display mostly Lucky Strike logos, with small 555 World Racing logos on the side and nose. Some years between2000 and2006 (AfterHonda had bought out BAR, and were under pressure to drop tobacco sponsorship under new EU legislation), they prominently displayed the 555 World Racing brand at the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix, where the 555 brand is better known. However, since2007 , Honda had decided to adopt a livery with no sponsorship logos at all, but a livery depictedEarth to raise environmetal awareness.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.