Great Britain's Olympic team has been given a friendly reminder to clamp down on athletes wearing the wrong brand headphones, after medal-chasing Olympians were spied sporting non-sponsor Beats by Dr. Dre cans.
The bass-heavy Dr. Dre brand shipped batches of its bombastic headphones to hotels where British athletes were staying, the Associated Press reports.
The Beats brand is not an official sponsor of the London 2012 Olympics, and as such officials were none too pleased about the company's cunning publicity ploy. British Olympic Association spokesperson Darryl Seibel said that team leaders have been reminded of "the importance of protecting our corporate partners".
British footballer Jack Butland tweeted, "Loving my new GB Beats by Dre," along with the hashtags #TeamGB and #Beats, Reuters says. The sponsor-swerving tweet apparently prompted a warning to Brit athletes.
No formal warnings or sanctions have been dished out, but the officials' curt warning to Team GB serves as a reminder of how fiercely the rights of games sponsors can be defended.
Seibel said that Olympians were welcome to wear Panasonic headphones.
Headphones have been a popular accessory during the Olympics, with athletes donning over-ear cans prior to events, presumably to get some adrenaline flowing ahead of their performance. I can only speculate as to what kind of music our muscular medal hopes have chosen, but I'd guess it's something from Rocky. Or Carly Rae Jepsen.
Do you think the officials' actions are fair? Or should athletes be able to wear whatever kind of headphones they like? And which motivational tune would you choose prior to an Olympic performance? Tell me in the comments or on our Facebook wall.
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Comments 21
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Nyllo 3 August, 2012 18:18
I wish they'd apply this ruling to the rest of Central London... or the world. Beats are single handedly the most infuriating headphones to ever be placed over someones skull. I rid them from this planet with great glory and glee.
anonymous 3 August, 2012 19:32
Well the atheles were given some Sennheiser HD-25s by Adidas so I'm not sure why they're wearing beats... http://on.fb.me/PspwVE
anonymous 3 August, 2012 21:24
Beats headphones are not bad at all. Matter of fact, they are one of the best selling brands around. You can find them in just about every state of the art studio around the world. If they were bad, no one would purchase them. That's a fact.
anonymous 3 August, 2012 22:05
Sports people have always been reliant on patronage. It's not a human activity that generates an income unless its professional, which then ties in with the entertainment industry. Is there any other way that our society will indulge such individualistic pursuits. It's probably only fair and reasonable that if corporations are paying for a forum where you can indulge your passions that you should be respectful to that. Beat headphones is being underhand if they didn't provide for the competition venue etc. It's called piggy backing.
anonymous 3 August, 2012 23:15
I think beat's move is very cheap
Doan 4 August, 2012 00:41
I couldn't care less about the Olympics because of things like this. Maybe I'm naive, but I feel like it used to be about the athletes, rather than the money.
anonymous 4 August, 2012 03:42
Doesn't matter of they're good or not. Wear whatever the hell you want.
jayce35 4 August, 2012 09:37
tthere not good headphones shires are so much better in sound quality and build my shire se425 for 170 pounds and they last for years
Benjamin Higham 4 August, 2012 10:09
Beats may look very daft but at least they don't let everyone in a 100yard radius hear what crap people are listening to. Yes I'm talking too you people with iPhones/iPods who insist on using the original white headphones that just annoy everyone around you! Plus, I think the Beats for the Olympians goes better with their Chavtastic gold tracksuits and shiny white sneakers.
anonymous 4 August, 2012 10:11
On the one hand touché got the public who footed a massive proportion of the Olympics bill. On the other hand you have the corporations who footed the other bit and get to profit from it.
However this is about the athletes. And does it really matter?
I think unless the athlete signed an explicit deal with a sponsor of headphones then they can do what they bloody well choose.
It's about purify of sport. Not money.
anonymous 4 August, 2012 13:15
To be fair, out of the Beats line, the Pro's are pretty good for a non-amped headphone, but still a bit too expensive for most people.
anonymous 4 August, 2012 14:20
I saw Justin Gatlin wearing them before his heat in the 100m earlier. Who says they are banned?
anonymous 4 August, 2012 23:07
Get alive,
people wear should be able to wear what they like
antonravioli 5 August, 2012 10:08
What will these corporate tossers do to those offending their sponsorship gravy train? Strip them of their medals? Not let them compete?
Just because a non-sponsor company needs to dish out their crappy headphones for free. If the athletes want to listen to music through headphones of their choice let them. It's their hearing after all.
The Panasonic ones on offer must be truly dreadful if they prefer Dr Dre headphones.
pablouk1 5 August, 2012 12:27
Have to wonder if they wipe their bums on only Olympic sponsored toilet paper.
anonymous 5 August, 2012 22:52
OK woah woah woah! This was posted on the 3rd of August, days after the games began. After 1 tweet by an athlete about the whole thing. Yet I have seen athletes from multiple nations donning these offenses to music quality reproductive apparel DURING finals! Swimming mens 100m relay for example. And I'm sure many other such incidents have been recorded on the telly.
So come on, why the fuss over one British athlete when EVERYONE else seems to be doing the exact same thing and getting away scott free?
Either clamp down, confiscate and replace with appropriately sponsored head gear, or be quiet and concentrate on barring kids coming in with spongebob backpacks!
anonymous 5 August, 2012 23:44
If there are a pair that are not wanted then please contact me I'm willing to give them a good home.
Ruffus Stone 6 August, 2012 00:42
They're not very good headphones. Bass heavy and too coloured sound.
They fall in the same category as Bose audio (too rubbish to be classed as HiFi); bought by people for the label, paying over the odds without any idea of what the quality is.
Think Ashley Cole !
anonymous 21 August, 2012 22:53
No, you're a moron. I am a producer, and beats are NEVER, EVER seen in a professional studio environement. EVER. Be quiet and stop being so gullible.
oh, 'and that's a fact.'
anonymous 16 October, 2012 16:39
cheap Ralph lauren?
anonymous 16 October, 2012 16:41
http://dressupnow.co.uk/index.php/