With all eyes of the sporting world turned to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup, there’s a massive opportunity to piggyback the event for some brand awareness.

Boutique headphones makers Beats By Dre certainly knows it and even though they’ve been red-carded by World Cup sponsors and officials, the backlash has generated the exact kind of media attention and publicity the electronics company probably intended all along.

Soccer governing body FIFA has banned players from all 32 teams competing for the Cup from sporting Beats headphones during official matches, media events, and inside all official stadiums due to a licensing agreement the governing soccer body has with official sponsor, Sony Corp, as Billboard reports.

Despite Sony handing out free headphones to all tournament players, many soccer stars have taken preference to wearing Dr Dre’s high-end headgear, that includes the likes of Brazil’s Neymar and Uruguay’s Luis Suarez wearing Beats to practice sessions and team training, according to Sydney Morning Herald

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The sight of World Cup players wearing Beats is obviously some great free advertising for Apple, who recently acquired the company from Dr. Dre in a $3 billion deal, who aren’t even an official sponsor of the World Cup. The Beats ban has only enhanced their appeal, according to Apple and Google marketing strategist, Ellen Petry Leanse.

“When fans see World Cup athletes wearing Beats in their downtime, by choice, it has as much impact as seeing them lace their Adidas (boots) or sip a sponsored beverage,” she tells SMH“Maybe more, actually – Beats isn’t a sponsor, so the message is more authentic and credible.”

Which was probably the strategy all along – as Billboard speculates – in a case of ‘ambush marketing’, a marketing term for an unofficial ad campaign that harnesses an existing campaign’s momentum; though Beats reps deny the strategy (for legal reasons).

Getting a sense of déjà vu? That’s because Beats By Dre pulled a similarly successful marketing stunt at the London 2012 Summer Olympics, hurdling over a loophole in the strict sponsorship guidelines of the world games by giving away their boutique headphones for free to top athletes all over the world via non-branded ‘collection points’.

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Even if they’re not an official FIFA sponsor, Beats did actually pump an awful lot of money into some World Cup marketing groundwork with their ‘Game Before The Game’ campaign, a series of blockbuster ads starring tournament players released in the days leading up to the World Cup’s kick-off.

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