Monday, March 17, 2014

MotoGP takes a cue from Harley-Davidson... and sponsorship money from Big Tobacco?

I doubt that I'm the only person who shudders at the thought of a MotoGP fashion line. But that's exactly what Dorna breathlessly announced last weekend.


It seems that the racing monopoly has teamed up with Classic MCS, which aspires to be, "the most exciting affordable luxury brand for Real Men (capitalization courtesy of Dorna)." The MotoGP line will sell for €40 (t-shirts) to €600 (leather jackets).

The photo associated with Dorna's press release (which I stole from RoadracingWorld.com's web site) shows a fashion model in faux-protective jeans and jacket. You can decide for yourself whether they've "captured the feeling of MotoGP" but don't count on this biker-look clothing for actual protection; the feeling you capture will be the intense pain of gravel rash, probably followed by a skin graft.

Hithertofore, I'd never heard of Classic MCS. It's the new name for a clothing store chain previously known as Marlboro Classics. Yes, that Marlboro. Is this just a case of the racing industry letting Big Tobacco back in, through the back door? To quote Kevin Spacey's 'Frank Underwood' character from House of Cards, "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment."

Who am kidding? I can comment. Sure, that's exactly what it is.

No comments:

Post a Comment