BUDAPEST – Coca-Cola saw its share price drop from RM231.13 ($56.10) to RM227.50 ($55.22) almost immediately after Cristiano Ronaldo’s removal of two Coca-Cola bottles during a press conference on Monday.
Ronaldo’s gesture coincided with a RM16.48 billion ($4 billion) fall in the share price of Coca-Cola.
The 36-year-old shifted the bottles of Coca-Cola away from him during the press conference 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, one of the official sponsors of Euro 2020, replied on Tuesday with a statement that said, “everyone is entitled to their drink preferences” with different “tastes and needs”.
A Euro spokesperson said: “Players are offered water, alongside Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, on arrival at our press conferences.”
Ronaldo is a pop-culture colossus, boasting nearly 300 million Instagram followers.
On Tuesday, he scored twice in Portugal’s 3-0 win over Hungary – moving beyond France great Michel Platini as the record goal scorer at the European Championship finals with 11. – Agencies, June 16, 2021.
