Villeneuve has a leading role in the Spring '98 Robe di Kappa advertising campaign which has been planned in 25 Countries starting from April.

"We have chosen the F1 World Champion - says Marco Boglione, President of the Basic Group holder of the Kappa trademarks - because we think that Jacques embodies all the characteristics of the young people we would like to have as our customers: young, loyal, professional, courageous but also unconventional. Someone who inspires his contemporaries and is also respected and admired by older generations. I think that Villeneuve is one of those very rare cases of someone who manages to be reference model for both old and young as he is a non-conformist".

Jacques Villeneuve added:" I have decided to wear and advertise the Kappa brand because this is the type of sportswear I normally use; it's fashionable, I like it and it makes me feel at ease".

The campaign has been created by Oliviero Toscani, renowned for the Benetton communication and author, last year, of the Robe di Kappa campaign with Juventus F.C. trainer Marcello Lippi. He thinks that "…as Mohamed Ali was not simply a champion boxer, Jacques is not merely a Formula 1 driver. He's much more: a rather eccentric, different character who challenges certain strict and rather sad rules of Formula 1 in the same way as Ali contended the rules of boxing."