West is a German tobacco brand that belongs to the German company Reemsta. West has been the principal sponsor of the McLaren Formula One team, renamed West McLaren Mercedes, since 1997. In July 2005 West terminated its relationship with McLaren due to a European Union ban on tobacco advertising. Various German cigarette brands make use of semi-subliminal content in their advertising. West seems to be another brand that draws upon semi-subliminal content to enhance a particular interpretation of an ad or to add additional meaning. West cigarette advertising maintains a long tradition of attempting to maintain an association with cigarette smoking and sexual behaviour. Therefore this brand is often deemed sexy.