The video embedded in this tweet shows the Brazilian soccer team on their journey, last month, to get to the World Cup. As you watch the video, keep your eye out for AirPods. They won’t be hard to spot, which is the point.
There are many examples of this, no matter what team you follow. And, as I pointed out in this post, this is one of the few times that the inability to show a product logo (all logos from non-World Cup sponsors must be covered up) makes no difference at all to that product’s recognizability.
A real branding coup. [H/T Matt Abras]
But does anyone notice other than Apple fans?
You can bet that FIFA isn’t going to let this continue. They are just a bundle of yucks.
This happens at English Premiereship for a couple of years now. No doubt World Cup is global event but English Premiereship is also famous worldwide.
You bet all football fans do. They’ll all see what hanging out of the ears of those footballers they worship and notice, especially one that has distinctive shape like AirPods.
Did Apple supply them?
Could this have been deliberate? Beats did this with a lot of athletes to market their headphones. If I remember correctly, at a previous world cup players were even asked to stop wearing them in public as the beats logo was clearly visible.
You might be right. I’m always surprised that NASCAR branding and cyclist branding and all that is worth the amount of money it costs
Didn’t they ban iPhones one Olympics because Samsung was a sponsor? OTOH the Olympic committee might have more power over its participants than FIFA does over its.