Coca Cola vs Ronaldo.
UEFA has now got involved in the Ronaldo x Coca Cola controversy, after the Portugal star removed bottles of the drink from his table at a press conference, a gesture that reportedly caused $4 billion to be wiped off Coke’s value.
It might be a bit strong to call it a feud between the two, but CR7’s snub of Coca-Cola has certainly caused a stir.
The fizzy drink company are just one of the hundreds of sponsors at the European Championships this summer, with their branding and drinks being difficult to avoid whether you’re at the stadiums or watching at home.
However, when Ronaldo sat down for a news conference ahead of Portugal’s match with Hungary, he decided to move them off the table and out of sight, before saying “agua,” which is, as you may have guessed, Portuguese for water.
And this didn’t end up being an insignificant gesture either. Ronaldo’s actions caused a $4 billion decrease in Coca-Cola’s market value, as it’s value dropped from $242bn to $238bn in the aftermath of the press conference.
Share prices in the company fell from $56.10 to $55.22 at the same time.
The governing body of European football have now issued a response to Ronaldo’s snub of the drink.
The Daily Mail reports that a spokesperson for UEFA said: “Players are offered water, alongside Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, on arrival at our press conferences. Everyone is entitled to their drink preferences.”
The spokesperson added that everyone has “tastes and needs.”
Since the move from Ronaldo, French star Paul Pogba has also decided to have his say on the product placement at press conferences, as he removed a bottle of Heineken from the table during his post-match media duties after France beat Germany 1-0.
