The writer suggests Beats is missing a prime marketing opportunity by not bringing back its four-year-old advertisement featuring Colin Kaepernick. One big difference between then and now: Beats is now owned by Apple. While Apple certainly hasn’t been shy about breaking with Donald Trump, it has yet to weigh in on the latest controversy and may not want to detract from its fall iPhone buzz.
(Or it may simply be allowing writers such as this one to do it instead.)
“It seems like a lifetime ago. Well, at least a sports marketing lifetime. Back in 2013, Beats by Dre launched a provocative new ad starring then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick getting yelled at by a mob of thinly disguised Seattle Seahawks fans. As one of the first ads in the brand’s “Hear What You Want” campaign, it’s a fun spot about how one pro athlete blocks out the noise. But today, in 2017, it takes on significantly more weight.”
