Beats by Dre are slipping past the barriers put in place to deter non-official brands at the 2018 World Cup in Russia by supplying players with customised "X Marks The Spot" Studio Wireless headphones.
Presenting 10 of the World Cup football squads with their own custom headphones, Beats by Dre use a large X to cover the B logo on the ear-cup, a nod to the plasters that athletes used to cover any visible branding when the brand started getting banned at major sporting tournaments. These include the 2014 World Cup, the Olympics in 2012 and 2016 and 2015’s NFL season and Wimbledon.
Non-official brand rules and endorsement rows put Beats by Dr. Dre in the middle of a whole load of controversy – but athletes “beat the ban” by disguising the iconic B. England, France, Germany, Brazil, Belgium, Russia, Argentina, Japan, Mexico and Spain are the ten teams who have received the custom headphones in their nations colours.
The release of the custom headphones follows the launch of Beats’ The Defiant Mixtape Vol.1 directed by Guy Ritchie. As per usual the Beats by Dre products have been filling Instagram feeds of players heading to Russia this week, including Nicolás Otamendi, Roberto Firmino, Raphael Varane, Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, and Jesse Lingard.
Clever little spin they've put on that, the little rascals...
