Cristiano Ronaldo rejects a Coca-Cola and the company loses almost 4,000 million dollars of value in the Stock Market
The footballer set aside some bottles of the popular drink during a press conference and asked for water consumption
There are things that take years to achieve, even decades. For example, a good brand image. However, there are unforeseen events that in a matter of seconds can damage the work done. Something like this happened this Monday to Coca-Cola, one of the main sponsors of the European Football Championship that takes place these weeks. Barely 20 seconds, those that elapsed between the entry of Cristiano Ronaldo to the press room and the opposite gesture of the footballer, which damages the reputation of the company and could be responsible for a loss of market capitalization of 3,967 million dollars (3,272 millions of euros).
The scene was as follows: the Portuguese player sits down, looking askance at the two bottles. He approaches the table, leans back in his chair as if gathering momentum, and then makes up his mind. He takes the two sodas with some disdain and removes them from the foreground. He then shows a bottle of water (without a label, that is, without a brand) and finishes: "Water, not Coca-Cola ...". It may seem anecdotal, but its impact is remarkable.
This happened last Monday afternoon in Budapest, almost coinciding with the opening of the session on Wall Street, where the company is listed. The video did not go viral until hours later, although the strong setback and fluctuation occurred from the beginning, so other factors could interfere - for example, this Monday the company discounted dividends, which explains half of the loss. The Dow Jones lost 0.25% on the day, also in the red, although with less intensity.
Ronaldo rechaza las botellas de Coca-Cola: "Agua. ¡¿Coca-Cola?! ..." pic.twitter.com/oUPoY10iKT
— El HuffPost (@ElHuffPost) June 15, 2021
Be that as it may, Coca-Cola went from having a value similar to Friday's closing ($ 56.16 per share) to falling to $ 55.24, a drop of 1.6%. At the end of the day, the firm raised the flight somewhat and closed the day with a value of $ 55.55. Although this Tuesday it has returned to a downtrend and closed at $ 55.41. Thus, it has gone from having a market value of 242,144 million dollars on Friday to 238,910 million this Tuesday.
This happened in one of the official press conferences of the Eurocup, with two bottles of the drink presiding over the table —it is one of the advantages of being a sponsor of the tournament. There are those who could rub their hands with the image: the Portuguese player next to the brand's star product. Although the dream has ended up becoming a nightmare due to the incalculable reputational damage it has cost him. Coca-Cola, at least for the moment, has not made any statement in this regard and refers any question to UEFA.
In the case of Cristiano Ronaldo, in addition, it rains when it is wet, since it is not the first time that the footballer has made a public comment against drinking. He already did another similar one in an interview when he talked about the healthy and healthy diet that children should eat, without consuming sugary or high-fat products. “I am tough on my son. Sometimes he drinks Coca-Cola and Fanta, and eats French fries. He knows I don't like him, ”he said then. However, this time the blow for the company has been more noticeable. And what was an investment in advertising during the tournament has turned against him.
