Philip Morris has backup plan

UPDATE According to this Chicago Tribune article, Altria Group Inc. is expected on Wednesday to announce the terms of the long-awaited spin-off of its stake in Kraft Foods Inc., prompting many shareholders to line up their exit positions in the foodmaker. This could mean a couple of things. Either there is no backup plan to place one of their other brands on the car, or the Marlboro race deals will be part of the Kraft spin-off.

01/30/07 After trying to pull a slick move in both the IRL and F1, Philip Morris are considering switching its sponsorship of the Ferrari and Team Penske Racing team away from the Marlboro brand if the EU and USA governments catch them trying to market their cancer sticks in a way that can be considered against the spirit of the law. If its current branding on the cars with subliminal branding which, while making no mention of Marlboro, is in the company colors is deemed to be illegal, the company is rumored to have come up with a backup plan to move its sponsorship over to one of its non-tobacco brands such as Maxwell House Coffee or food brand, Kraft.