Ronaldo snub costs Coca-Cola billions
Cristiano Ronaldo’s removal of two Coca-Cola bottles during a press conference at the European Championship has coincided with a more than A$5 billion fall in the share price of the drinks giant…
The Portugal captain is a renowned health fanatic and made it clear what he thinks of the carbonated soft drink.
The 36-year-old shifted the bottles of Coca-Cola away from him during a press conference on Wednesday (AEST) in the prelude to his country’s Group F game against Hungary.
Ronaldo followed it by holding up a bottle of water before declaring in Portuguese: ‘Agua!’, appearing to encourage people to choose that instead.
Coca-Cola’s share price dropped from US$56.10 ($73) to US$55.22 ($71.86) almost immediately after Ronaldo’s gesture, a 1.6 per cent dip.
The market value of Coca-Cola went from US$242b ($315.2b) to US$238b ($310b) – a drop of US$4b ($5.2b).
Coca-Cola, one of the official sponsors of Euro 2020, replied with a statement that read in part “everyone is entitled to their drink preferences” with different “tastes and needs”.
A Euros spokesperson said: “Players are offered water, alongside Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, on arrival at our press conferences.”
Ronaldo is one of the greatest players in history and a pop culture colossus, boasting nearly 300 million Instagram followers – the most of any person in the world.
On Wednesday, Ronaldo scored twice in a 3-0 win over Hungary in Budapest for European champions Portugal – moving beyond France legend Michel Platini as the record goalscorer at the European Championship finals with 11.