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 film. His last television role was as the supermarket manager in another ITV sitcom, "Tripper's Day" (1984). He continued to make a steady stream of film appearances, including a role in Lindsay Anderson's "Britannia Hospital" (1982). Rossiter also played the title role in the "BBC Television Shakespeare" production of "The Life and Death of King John" (1984). His last film appearance was in "Water" (1985). Rossiter displayed his acid wit in two books: "The Devil's Bedside Book" (1980), a collection of cynical dictionary definitions in the style of Ambrose Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary", and "The Lowest Form of Wit" (1981),