Spurs star Son refuses to hold fans' iPhone due to sponsorship deal. Tottenham superstar Son Heung-min was asked by a fan to take a selfie but the woman met with the South Korean player's refusal. The forward's sponsorship with Samsung doesn't allow him to take phones belonging to technological competitors in public.

A viral video has shown Son Heung-min refusing to hold a fan's iPhone as they asked him for a selfie - because of his sponsorship deal with a tech rival.

The video on TikTok shows a fan offering their iPhone to the South Korean star so he could take a selfie of them together.

But Son, upon realizing what product she was offering for him to hold, put his hands together apologetically and explained that he couldn't take the picture but was happy for the fan to do so instead.

The video then shows Son being offered a phone from another fan, where he was happy to take the selfie on this occasion with a supporter who was holding up a Tottenham shirt with his name on.

As part of a sponsorship deal with Samsung, Son can't take his selfies or touch phones belonging to fans if the product belongs to a rival company.

The South Korean international became a brand ambassador for Samsung earlier this summer.

His contract with them means that fans who don't have a Samsung phone will have to take selfies if they ever come across the Tottenham star.

It's not the first instance where a phone manufacturer has been particularly touchy about the use of their products in wider media.

'Knives Out' director Rian Johnson famously revealed that Apple will only permit the use of iPhones in films and onscreen as long as villains aren't the ones using them.

In guidelines on how its products should be depicted by developers promoting an app or accessory, Apple says the product must be ‘shown only in the best light, in a manner or context that reflects favorably on the Apple products and Apple Inc.’

Apple isn't alone in ensuring its products are seen in the best possible light when used by characters in film and television.

'All brands have stipulations for how they want to be used and seen on screen,' Darryl Collis, product placement specialist at Seesaw Media told the Guardian.

'It is common for some brands not to want to be associated with a bad guy, or for an alcohol or car brand not to want to be linked with characters being drunk.'

Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle once said in an interview that Mercedes cars can be seen in the movie - but weren't product placement.

When the car company saw the movie after its release they had no problem with it being seen in a posh housing estate but not when it was driving around a slum.

Since linking up with Samsung, Son has regularly promoted their products on his Instagram account.

At the time of writing, Son's last Instagram post was promoting Samsung as part of their 'Everyday SmartThings with Son' campaign.