Alcohol-free branding in formula one: stealth marketing strategy or something more?

Purpose This paper studies how alcohol sponsors in Formula One (F1) adapt their branding strategies across changeable regulatory environments. It enquires whether alcohol-free activations exclusively serve as compliance devices or, on the contrary, as deliberate stealth and alibi strategies that ensure parent-brand visibility and cultural meaning. Design/methodology/approach We conducted a visual-content analysis of the complete broadcast footage from all the 22 Grands Prix of the 2023 F1 season, using a one-minute interval coding protocol. The analysis captured the frequency and type of brand exposure, differentiating between alcoholic and alcohol-free variants and documented the use of responsibility slogans. Findings Despite a variable legal background, alcohol-related branding is becoming more prevalent in F1 broadcasts. The analysis reveals a noticeable shift in sponsorship content towards alcohol-free variants and responsibility messages, which often coexist with – and sometimes replace – explicit alcohol promotion. When interpreted through the relevant marketing frameworks, these activations operate both as stealth cues (low-salience, repeated exposures that reduce audience persuasion knowledge activation) and alibi devices (line extensions and shared semiotics that sustain parent-brand equity across jurisdictions). Originality/value By combining exhaustive season-long broadcast coding with a theory-driven interpretive framework, this study provides the first systematic cross-jurisdictional analysis of alcohol-free branding in F1. It contributes to sport marketing scholarship by integrating stealth and alibi perspectives and offers practical insights for regulators, rights-holders and public health stakeholders concerned with surrogate sponsorship and hidden promotion.