Samsung Asks Athletes To Hide Apple Logo On Their iPhone During The Olympics
By Ben Reid | February 6th, 2014
Samsung, as you'll likely be aware, has a colossal advertising budget, regularly throwing tens of millions into new ad campaigns. While some, like the Samsung Style dance, have left us cringing, the company has regularly taken the more traditional approach of involving itself in major sporting events, and having been a major partner in the London 2012 Summer Olympics, the company is also looking to capitalize on Moscow's 2014 Winter Games. But while its tactic of giving away a free Galaxy Note 3 to every athlete may equate to some decent coverage when the TV feeds are beamed worldwide, there's a catch, in that recipients of the free Note must obscure the Apple logo if they plan on using an iPhone during the opening ceremony.
With social media being what it is, and fans able to get closer to the stars through mediums like Twitter and Instagram, participants of the Winter Olympics will likely be using their smartphones to take snaps of their personal highlights and share them with the world. But while a free Galaxy Note 3 will be offered to each and every athlete, they'll have to essentially hide their affinity to the Apple iPhone, or indeed any other brand, as part of the deal.
I'm sure many of us would happily hide our beloved handset – whatever its denomination – for a couple of hours if there was going to be an expensive, highly sought-after new smartphone on the other side. With that said, quite a few Olympians are wealthy enough to rebuff such an offer, and with Samsung's requirement that Apple logos be covered up seeming a bit extreme, it will be interesting to see how many Galaxy Notes we can spot once the Games begin.
The ban on logos does extend to any other brand of smartphone aside from Samsung, although since the Cupertino company is its main industry rival – allied to the fact that there's certainly no love lost between them – means there's little doubt that these guidelines have been set mainly to quell the ubiquitous bitten Apple logo.
Supposing you were an athlete competing in Moscow, would you hide your iPhone / Lumia / Xperia in order to play along with Samsung's rampant ad campaign? Do share your thoughts below!
(via: SlashGear)