Olympic Athletes Requested to Cover Apple Logos During Opening Ceremony Because of Samsung Sponsorship [Updated]

[69Mustang]

Really? You don't see Coke asking people to cover up Pepsi bottles at events like the Superbowl.

IOC is not asking attendees to cover their phones.

And coke is not the official sponsor of the Superbowl, they only played an ad. Bud Light is and no competing brand was allowed in the stadium.

Similar to the IOC and Samsungs sponsorship, the NFL made Sodastream edit their commercial to remove references to a couple of their largest advertisers... Coke and Pepsi. Speaking of Coke; one of the Worldwide Sponsors of these Olympics... what do you think would happen if an athlete wore an article of clothing with Pepsi on it?

Granted the IOC is draconian in protecting their sponsorships. But that's the IOC. Putting the blame on Samsung because of a love of Apple is misguided.

How quickly we forget the 2012 Olympics:
http://deadspin.com/5903795/posting...m-the-london-olympics-could-land-you-in-court

 

[lk400]

This happens every Olympics with multiple sponsors. I guess 90% of you posting were unaware of that.

And does the fact that people get assaulted and murdered every day make peoples shock and sadness at reading about another school shooting any less relevant?

 

[69Mustang]

Wouldn't it be funny if Apple give away 1000 iPhone to any athletes who want one, specially those not from the U.S. and see how many will show up at the opening and closing ceremony.

That would be soooooooooooooo funny. You know what would be even funnier? If Samsung or one of the other worldwide sponsors pulls out of their sponsorship. That would be funny. Because then, the athletes who currently compete for free, would have to finance their own trip. All would not be lost though. They could get an easy $4-500 for that iPhone.

 

[blue-flash]

It does not matter since everyone knows an Apple product when they see one.

Whenever I see the Apple logo covered up on a television show , then its even more proof its an Apple product.

 

[gnasher729]

I don't like Samsung and I like Apple, but Samsung just reminds athletes that mentioning any non-Olympic sponsor brands including brands on clothing etc is prohibited by the rules.

And what gives these fat asses the right to make that kind of rules? Are the athletes their personal slaves? Seriously, what kind of world are we living in where commercial interests can forbid a talented athlete to publicly use the phone that he or she bought with their own money?

That would be soooooooooooooo funny. You know what would be even funnier? If Samsung or one of the other worldwide sponsors pulls out of their sponsorship. That would be funny. Because then, the athletes who currently compete for free, would have to finance their own trip. All would not be lost though. They could get an easy $4-500 for that iPhone.

Well, that would be an excellent development, wouldn't it? I wonder how these athletes managed to get to Tokio, Mexico, Munich and Montreal when there was no corporate sponsorship. You know, without Samsung and similar crap, we could actually have much better olympic games. With organizers who try to organize a great sporting event instead of trying to maximize the profit for their organisation which can then be turned into salaries for all the officials who outnumber the athletes.

 

[AppleScruff1]

And what gives these fat asses the right to make that kind of rules? Are the athletes their personal slaves? Seriously, what kind of world are we living in where commercial interests can forbid a talented athlete to publicly use the phone that he or she bought with their own money?

Please show me where the athletes are prohibited from using their phones. And if only all of the worlds problems could be so trivial as arguing about covering a logo.

 

[Abazigal]

I think it should also be noted the sheer number of people on here who CANNOT READ is really shocking.

For instance on the very front page in this news story:

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.

So to those many on here asking, YES Samsung are giving them all phones.

Yeah, but you can't just expect the to throw away their iphones, the phones which they have been using for some time and are very comfortable with, and expect them to just pick up a new OS there and then. Of course they are going to be uncomfortable with a new interface and having to relearn everything. Isn't that just one more avenue of stress at a time when they should really be focusing on the competition at hand?

What if they don't want to use the Note3 phones and want to use their iPhones? Are those even valid grounds for disqualifying the athletes?

I understand that as an advertiser, you naturally want maximum bang for your buck and don't want to give free coverage of competing brands. But it seems that this sort of heavy-handedness will just end up sending the opposite message. In the end, it's really go to turn around and bite Samsung in their backsides.

Which just goes to show that a strong brand name and powerful mindshare is something you earn over time with wonderful products that look great and work great, not something you can just buy by throwing money and sponsoring random events.

 

[samcraig]

And does the fact that people get assaulted and murdered every day make peoples shock and sadness at reading about another school shooting any less relevant?

You didn't just compare the inability to show a competing phone logo for one event at the Olympics to murder, assault and school shootings, did you?

And what gives these fat asses the right to make that kind of rules? Are the athletes their personal slaves? Seriously, what kind of world are we living in where commercial interests can forbid a talented athlete to publicly use the phone that he or she bought with their own money?

Something tells me that if the headline was about Apple doing this to Samsung - there would be a ton of posts saying something similar to "Take that Samsung!"

 

[Abazigal]

This is perfect example of an non-issue made an issue.

People are going to interpret it to mean that they would rather use iPhones even when Samsung gives them their latest flagship phones for free. And Apple still gets the coverage either way, without spending a single cent.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Yeah, but you can't just expect the to throw away their iphones, the phones which they have been using for some time and are very comfortable with, and expect them to just pick up a new OS there and then. Of course they are going to be uncomfortable with a new interface and having to relearn everything. Isn't that just one more avenue of stress at a time when they should really be focusing on the competition at hand?

What if they don't want to use the Note3 phones and want to use their iPhones? Are those even valid grounds for disqualifying the athletes?

I understand that as an advertiser, you naturally want maximum bang for your buck and don't want to give free coverage of competing brands. But it seems that this sort of heavy-handedness will just end up sending the opposite message. In the end, it's really go to turn around and bite Samsung in their backsides.

Which just goes to show that a strong brand name and powerful mindshare is something you earn over time with wonderful products that look great and work great, not something you can just buy by throwing money and sponsoring random events.

For the umpteenth time, no one is prohibited from using their iPhones. They don't have to use the Samsung phone. And it's up to the IOC to dictate whether they have to cover the Apple logo to do so, not Samsung.

----------

People are going to interpret it to mean that they would rather use iPhones even when Samsung gives them their latest flagship phones for free. And Apple still gets the coverage either way, without spending a single cent.

And I'll bet that 99.99999% of the billion people who will watch the Olympics could care less.

 

[robjulo]

What in the world are you talking about. Bizzarre.

And does the fact that people get assaulted and murdered every day make peoples shock and sadness at reading about another school shooting any less relevant?

 

[kdarling]

And what gives these fat asses the right to make that kind of rules? Are the athletes their personal slaves? Seriously, what kind of world are we living in where commercial interests can forbid a talented athlete to publicly use the phone that he or she bought with their own money?

A world where the Olympics has been partly paid for by advertising deals since the late 1800s.

In an ideal world, donations would be enough. But they're not.

These days, about 40% of the Olympics is paid for by corporate sponsors.

Samsung has been helping with the Olympics (both monetarily and electronically) since 1998. It would be cool if Apple took some of their billions and helped, too.

 

[Rot'nApple]

Way back when, I worked as a "bell hop" at a local beach hotel. When I arrived at work I would go to the front desk and guess at the number of check-in's for the evening. If I guessed correctly, I would tell the girl behind the counter that I "won" $1000 bucks. Her reply was always, "Excuse me. I don't think so!"

Hey Samsung, "Excuse me. I don't think so!"
/
/
/

 

[bretm]

Way back when, I worked as a "bell hop" at a local beach hotel. When I arrived at work I would go to the front desk and guess at the number of check-in's for the evening. If I guessed correctly, I would tell the girl behind the counter that I "won" $1000 bucks. Her reply was always, "Excuse me. I don't think so!"

Hey Samsung, "Excuse me. I don't think so!"
/
/
/

Samsung- "We'll take our millions ( billions?) of advertising dollars elsewhere then!"

They can pretty much ask for anything they want within reason.

----------

A world where the Olympics has been partly paid for by advertising deals since the late 1800s.

In an ideal world, donations would be enough. But they're not.

These days, about 40% of the Olympics is paid for by corporate sponsors.

Samsung has been helping with the Olympics (both monetarily and electronically) since 1998. It would be cool if Apple took some of their billions and helped, too.

Let's get it straight. No corporate sponsor is helping ANYONE out of the goodness of their heart. It has to have economic return.

 

[samcraig]

Let's get it straight. No corporate sponsor is helping ANYONE out of the goodness of their heart. It has to have economic return.

Who mentioned anything about sponsorship being good will?

 

[69Mustang]

And what gives these fat asses the right to make that kind of rules? Are the athletes their personal slaves? Seriously, what kind of world are we living in where commercial interests can forbid a talented athlete to publicly use the phone that he or she bought with their own money?

Depending on the fat ass, I'll try to answer your question.

Fat ass 1: IOC. This one is easy. They can do what ever they want. It's their show. Whether we agree or disagree with how they run it is immaterial.

Fat ass 2: Sponsors. Since this is MR and Apple fans seem to frothy with righteous indignation tonight, we'll go with Samsung = All Sponsors. My answer to your question is "due consideration".

Samsung: "We will fund these Winter Olympics, Summer Olympics, and the Paralympics. Athletes need not worry about travel, accommodations, food... they just need to compete."

IOC: "Thank you. In consideration of your generosity we will vigorously defend your brand and highlight it as much as possible, to the exclusion of brands that don't help fund these games."

Regarding the Opening Ceremony. It's only one part of the event. It's not the whole Olympics. Additionally they're saying we will give you a device to take pictures/video during the ceremony. Ceremony over? Use your whatever to your heart's content.

I am going to break one of my rules. Analogies - I freaking hate them on MR because as a group we are the worst on the internet, by a mile. But here goes.

Imagine I am a talented pan flute artist participating in the PFRR. Apple decides to sponsor the Pan Flute Royal Rumble (shout out to WWE coming to the ATV). We have a ceremony. Free hotel, free food, free travel... the works, all courtesy of Apple. I decide I want to video the event. So I whip out my Note 3 and start shooting vids and snapping pics. The PFRR says hey since Apple is footing the bill could you use this free 5S to film the ceremony?

I channel Lana Kane: Yuuuuuup

 

[bretm]

Please show me where the athletes are prohibited from using their phones. And if only all of the worlds problems could be so trivial as arguing about covering a logo.

Who has a visible logo anyway? My phone logo has been covered since June 2007. It's the most fragile $600 thing you can own. Not putting a case on it is like not having a neck strap on your DSLR.

 

[jm001]

Ah the spirit of the games, "Faster, Higher, Sponsored".

 

[Abazigal]

For the umpteenth time, no one is prohibited from using their iPhones. They don't have to use the Samsung phone. And it's up to the IOC to dictate whether they have to cover the Apple logo to do so, not Samsung.

----------



And I'll bet that 99.99999% of the billion people who will watch the Olympics could care less.

It's all about framing the context. Normally, people won't care what phone the athletes are using. But when viewed from the context of them using their iPhones despite being given free Android phones and despite being "advised" not to use their iPhones, it takes on a whole new meaning, doesn't it? All the more when you realise that Samsung is sponsoring the event and has sunk in a ton of money.

Either way, I don't see how it represents good advertising for Samsung either way.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Who has a visible logo anyway? My phone logo has been covered since June 2007. It's the most fragile $600 thing you can own. Not putting a case on it is like not having a neck strap on your DSLR.

Good point. Lot's of iPhone's are in cases and the logo is covered.

----------

It's all about framing the context. Normally, people won't care what phone the athletes are using. But when viewed from the context of them using their iPhones despite being given free Android phones and despite being "advised" not to use their iPhones, it takes on a whole new meaning, doesn't it? All the more when you realise that Samsung is sponsoring the event and has sunk in a ton of money.

Either way, I don't see how it represents good advertising for Samsung either way.

Do you think that people outside of the Apple forums will even here about this? Do you think the average viewer will know that Samsung gave every athlete a Galaxy Note and they decide to use their iPhone instead? I don't.

 

[bretm]

Who mentioned anything about sponsorship being good will?

The OP mentioned that Samsung had been "helping" with the Olympics and Apple should "help" too. He also said Samsung had "paid for" which is correct. But to mention Apple should use it's billions to also "help" sends a message that someone thinks Apple owes somebody some help. They don't owe anyone anything except their shareholders.

 

[Abazigal]

Good point. Lot's of iPhone's are in cases and the logo is covered.

----------



Do you think that people outside of the Apple forums will even here about this? Do you think the average viewer will know that Samsung gave every athlete a Galaxy Note and they decide to use their iPhone instead? I don't.

People normally wouldn't care. But I think more will once this article hits (and I already see this article circulating around outside of pro-Apple forums and discussion thread. It's only a matter of time before it hits normal news websites.

 

[AppleScruff1]

People normally wouldn't care. But I think more will once this article hits (and I already see this article circulating around outside of pro-Apple forums and discussion thread. It's only a matter of time before it hits normal news websites.

IMO, in the real world this isn't even news.

 

[bretm]

Good point. Lot's of iPhone's are in cases and the logo is covered.

----------



Do you think that people outside of the Apple forums will even here about this? Do you think the average viewer will know that Samsung gave every athlete a Galaxy Note and they decide to use their iPhone instead? I don't.

Oh yes. I think it will be mentioned quite a bit. It'll be mandated that it's mentioned that the athletes were given Samsung devices. Probably why they're demanding their logos be covered. So it doesn't look utterly stupid that many have Apple devices.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Oh yes. I think it will be mentioned quite a bit. It'll be mandated that it's mentioned that the athletes were given Samsung devices. Probably why they're demanding their logos be covered. So it doesn't look utterly stupid that many have Apple devices.

Do you think that it's going to be mentioned on TV during the Olympic broadcasts? Do you think the IOC is going to allow it on the official coverage? Do you think the IOC is going to present a major sponsor in a negative light? IMO, the answer is no.