Cinzano of the vermouth market in Europe was measured in the low single digits, sales that placed it a distant second to Martini. As a result of a 1997 merger, Grand Metropolitan became Diageo; two years later, Diageo sold Cinzano to the privately held Gruppo Campari. The Cinzano bicycling team had a central role in the film "Breaking Away". Cinzano was well known in Britain for its humorous television advertisements featuring Leonard Rossiter and Joan Collins. One of these featured the pair on a plane journey, with Rossiter accidentally hitting the "recline" switch on Collins chair, causing her to spill a
Leonard Rossiter Sex Olympics", part of BBC 2's "Theatre 625", one of his four appearances in the series. In "Rising Damp", on ITV, Rossiter played Rigsby, the lecherous landlord of a house converted into seedy bedsits, reprising the role from the successful stage version, "The Banana Box". While he was in "Rising Damp" he also took the lead role in "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin", adapted by David Nobbs from his own comic novels and aired on the BBC. Rossiter was given a surprise tribute on "This Is Your Life" in 1975. He appeared in "I Tell You It’s Burt