Apple’s new headphone company received an official ban from the NFL this season, prohibiting the Beats cans from being worn at games or official press conferences, and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine couldn’t feel more lucky.
Iovine was the keynote speaker today at the University of Southern California’s Global Conversation, and according to Business Insider, he told the audience that the NFL’s decision to ban Beats at the behest of Bose was an inept move that’s turned Beats into a superhero.
“What happened there, you have a tech company that’s culturally inept,” said Iovine. “There’s no one at the company that said, ‘If you ban these guys, you’re going to look bad to the young people, and they’re going to look like superheroes even though they’re just pure capitalists — well they’re not pure capitalists, but they’re real capitalists and sold that company to Apple — but you’re going to make them look like the underdog.”
Iovine and Dr. Dre have mastered the art of guerrilla marketing to make Beats the biggest name in headphones, thanks to a steady stream of celeb endorsements, music video cameos and a keen touch with pop culture. Beats was also banned from the World Cup this summer by official sponsor Sony, but the ban was a huge score for Beats, which was seen as the headphones soccer stars really use when they’re off the field.
“It’s like, I can’t believe I’m this lucky,” said Iovine. “I feel like sending them the tape,” referring to Colin Kaepernick’s decision to put tape over the Beats logo during press conferences, after the NFL fined him $10,000 for wearing them earlier this season.
Source: Business Insider
