Samsung Asks Athletes to Cover Apple Logo

Samsung Asks Athletes to Cover Apple Logo

 

Samsung is asking athletes to cover the apple logo on their iPhones to prevent the logo from showing up on television during the opening ceremony of this years Winter Olympics. This may seem as a very sneaky and unfair request, but considering that Samsung is one of the major sponsors, this may fall under the controversial ‘Rule 40,’ which prevents athletes from mentioning any non-Olympic sponsors. Athletes who break Rule 40 can be punished in various ways, or worst-case scenario, disqualified.

Slashgear reports:

“Olympics sponsor Samsung is reportedly dropping Galaxy Note 3 smartphones in athletes’ goodie-bags, though the gift comes with a catch: a supposed ban on any other device branding, iPhone or otherwise, during the opening ceremony. Details of the clamp-down, which is said to require the Apple logo on an iPhone be physically covered so that it’s not caught on camera during the televised ceremony in Sochi, were spilled by the Swiss Olympic team.”

The gift-bag comes with a price, if you choose to use your Galaxy Note 3, which Samsung is giving away freely, they do not want to see any other branding or competitive product logo’s. Fair?

The Olympics provide a unique advertising opportunity—the 2012 Summer Olympics was the most-watch event in US TV history with over 220 million viewers—and it’s believed that Samsung has, in the past, spent more than $100 million as a sponsor.

The qualification events for the 2014 Winter Olympics begin tomorrow February 7, and will see the games officially kick off in the evening.