Racqueteering - lying logos...

Richard Gasquet played his first ATP tournament in April at the Monte Carlo Masters Series event.
Lacking the ranking points necessary to gain entry, he played only as a result of receiving a wildcard into the qualifying event.
He beat Hicham Arazi and Peter Luczak and earned a place in the main draw.
He then beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Felix Mantilla and Nikolai Davydenko to reach the quarterfinals.
His next match was against world number one Roger Federer.
Gasquet then shocked the tennis world by beating Federer 6-7(1) 6-2 7-6(8) and became an instant French hero.

And the relevance of this piece of tennis history?
Well, interesting things also occurred to M Gasquet's racquet during the event...

At the beginning of the main tournament, his racquets bore a Luxilon logo. This is what it looks like:

Luxilon is an independent manufacturer of tennis strings and is mainly known for its Big Banger range of strings.
They have become extremely popular with professional players and are currently used by the majority of ATP players.
Luxilon has a sponsorship program that provides strings to up-and-coming players as well as the top touring professionals.
In return, they are asked to provide a little recognition to the company by placing the Luxilon logo on their racquets.
They sign an agreement to do so.

Just before the Federer match, the Luxilon logo suddenly disappeared from M Gasquet's racquet. As the match generated considerable interest and was televised internationally, this was possibly an invitation to potential sponsors/bidders..?

In any event, by the time he played at the French Open a few weeks later his racquet had acquired two new logos - a large Head logo and a small Head logo - indicating that he played with a Head racquet and also used Head strings.
But the stringing records from the tournament indicate that he was still stringing his racquets with Luxilon strings.
 Additionally, he was, at this time, reported as requesting and receiving new supplies of free strings from Luxilon.
 His father/manager was also apparently actively discussing with Luxilon the supply of other Luxilon strings to evaluate.

M Gasquet has also reportedly stated that he will continue to play with Luxilon strings.

It is believed that Luxilon has discovered that he is using the Head - rather than the Luxilon - logo and requested an explanation...

Is this just a legal problem between Luxilon and the Gasquets - or are there wider issues?

Richard Gasquet has become a role model for tens of thousands of tennis fans.
He was idolized at the French Open and mobbed by fans eager to share his fame and glory for a brief moment.
He is evidence that, with the right equipment, David can slay the tennis equivalent of Goliath.
And he has, in the process, become a very marketable and valuable commodity to tennis suppliers - always eager for an advantage in today's competitive environment.
Head has reportedly paid Richard Gasquet a significant amount of money to put its logo on his racquets.
The rationale is simple - fans who want to emulate Gasquet only have to buy and use Head racquets and strings.
Then they too can be giant killers - they too can be winners...!

But what if Richard Gasquet does not play with Head strings as seems to be the case?
Is Head aware that M Gasquet is using Luxilon strings and will continue to do so? It is hard to believe that they can not be.
It is understood that Head's contract doesn't forbid a player from using other strings - just from publicly acknowledging that they do so. That would suggest a deliberate attempt to mislead the public.

Are fans and the buying public being duped? Are they being induced to buy Head strings by false pretences?

I think they are - and that purchasers and fans are entitled to the truth - from both companies and players.