Bose is the official headphone sponsor of the National Football League. As such, the NFL has banned players from wearing non-Bose headphones when cameras are around.
Colin Kaepernick, the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, was fined $10,000 last week for violating the ban, but that didn't stop him from wearing them again this week during warmups and in a postgame interview. But Kaepernick, who is sponsored by Beats, won't be getting fined again this week, as he came up with an ingenious way to "hide" the fact that he wasn't wearing Bose headphones.
Masking tape. Right over the logo.
The athletic tape covered the Beats logo on Kaepernick's pink headphones, which he's wearing to honor the NFL's monthlong breast cancer initiative. Of course, anyone who knows anything about headphones knows Kaepernick was wearing Beats, and presumably the head honchos of the NFL are aware of this as well. But the move brings him in compliance with the NFL's policy, in which players can wear whatever brands they want as long as identifying logos on unapproved brands are covered up.
In a statement to CNET, the NFL likened its policy on headphones to its policy on shoes. "This is similar to the policy for footwear -- Nike and Under Armour are the only footwear brands that receive exposure on field game-day," an NFL representative stated. "Players can wear any brand of footwear but must tape over logos of brands unless they are Nike and Under Armour."
Guess we'll be seeing more taped-up headphones at postgame press conferences and on the sidelines going forward, as wearing Beats is apparently in players' DNA.
(Via The Verge)