Leafs star Tavares spotted touting power of “magical” injury-healing amulet

If you ever find yourself as one of the stars of the Toronto Maple Leafs, you may endorse all sorts of products throughout your time with the team.

It’s far from uncommon to see players and their brands attached to all sorts of products and services in the Greater Toronto Area: car dealerships, insurance companies, restaurants, you name it.

And while health and wellness products are another category that have long been endorsed by athletes, Leafs forward John Tavares raised more than a few eyebrows when one of his endorsements went viral this week.

It all started when Washington Post writer Will Sommer shared a video on X of Australian actor and comedian Russell Brand, who was spotted endorsing a “magical amulet” from Aires Tech. According to Brand, the amulet supposedly has the power to protect its wearers from “corruptible and corrupting” signals such as those emitted by phones and WiFi routers.

Another user, with the handle of @BacklogReviewer, began a long secondary thread explaining what he’d learned about the amulet and its advertised properties. In one of the posts, he shared a testimonial about its alleged injury-healing powers, as endorsed by Tavares himself.

Hockey fans, as you’d expect, weren’t exactly calm about the revelation. Here are some of the reactions:

While Tavares has had the partnership for a while, it didn’t appear to have much reach when it first launched.

That all changed as a result of the X thread, and yes, the endorsement is very real.

“As a professional athlete, one of my top priorities is staying healthy and recovering quickly when dealing with injuries,” Tavares said in a release earlier this year. “After discovering Aires technology four years ago, I have seen tremendous benefits to my recovery and overall health. I am honoured to join the team at Aires and excited to share my experiences with the products more broadly.”

The release (and his testimonial on the company website) refer to him as the Leafs captain, which is no longer accurate after Auston Matthews took over the role this summer, but it was the truth when Tavares signed the deal with Aires Tech.

Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett is also listed as a spokesperson for the company, while Canada Basketball has a partnership with them.

The cheapest product on the site appears to go for C$124, though various products can send you back upwards of $500, with an advertised reach of over “100,000 happy customers.”

“Aires’ EMF protection products are designed for convenience. Just have them near any source of radiation, and they start working,” a note on the site reads, supposedly as an attempt to explain the amulet’s magical powers.

In an odd twist of fate, Tavares has already missed one game this season due to illness, meaning the amulet may not exactly have a 100% success rate at keeping its wearers healthy.

Whether Tavares really did approach the company or really believes in its technologies is a question that remains unanswered, but one we will definitely remain curious about.

Source