Nicorette's owner, pharmaceuticals company Pharmacia, said in a terse statement it would not seek an alternative sponsorship deal.
Its decision could come as a long-term blow to motorsport outfits which need to replace tobacco sponsors ahead of a European Union ban on such deals that comes into effect in July 2005.
"Nicorette regrets the recent change in sponsorship of the Peugeot World Rally team, and therefore feels it necessary to terminate its ongoing involvement," said the company.
Under the deal with Marlboro, owned by US tobacco giant Philip Morris, this year's Peugeot team in the World Rally Championship is now decked in the red and white colours of the cigarette brand. The deal is worth an undisclosed sum.
Pharmacia had signed the two-year deal at the beginning of last year with the intention of using Richard Burns, then world champion, as a marketing platform to promote its Nicorette-branded products, which include patches, gums, inhalers, nasal sprays and microtabs.
The pharmaceuticals company believed a tie-up with Burns would enable it to build greater brand awareness, particularly in the UK market, as TV audiences for the sport grew significantly. Burns sported the Nicorette logo on his racing apparel and made a series of promotional appearances for the company.
"Many of the qualities needed to succeed in the WRC mirror the values needed to give up smoking," said Pharmacia director of global business Peter Felix when the deal was struck. "We see Richard as an ideal role model for our brand."
Other pharmaceutical companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, have been linked with motorsport deals as tobacco's presence in the sponsorship arena declines. But sources predict that in the wake of the WRC conflict, they will not make commitments until all tobacco sponsorship is banned.
Formula One insiders believe the early introduction of the ban will, ironically, lead to a longer-term presence for tobacco in the sport as more Grands Prix are staged outside Europe in countries where there are fewer marketing restrictions.
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