All-time soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s gesture at a Euro 2020 press conference wiped $4 billion off Coca-Cola’s market value on Monday.
Ronaldo, sat beside Portugal manager Fernando Santos ahead of his team’s match against Hungary, irritably set aside two bottles of the soda drink placed before him. He then picked up a bottle of water and appeared to encourage drinking that instead by saying “Água!” – which is Portuguese for water.
Coca-Cola’s shares opened trading around $56.17 on Monday, then had fallen 1.6% to $55.22 by the end of the press conference. That coincided with a sharp drop in market value from $242 billion to $238 billion, or a $4 billion loss. The soft-drink manufacturer’s shares continued to slide on Tuesday, falling 0.3%.
The stock price of one of the largest bottlers of the drink, Coca-Cola Bottling, fell 4% on Monday, and is down 8% in the past week.
Coca-Cola is one of the official sponsors of the UEFA EURO 2020 tournament. The company reportedly issued a statement about the incident, saying “everyone is entitled to their drink preferences” and have differing “tastes and needs.”
A Euro 2020 spokesperson added: “Players are offered water, alongside Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, on arrival at our press conference.”
Ronaldo has previously spoken about his disapproval of Coca-Cola and other unhealthy food and beverages. He follows a fitness routine that includes eating six meals and taking five naps on a typical day.
In 2020, he said he gets irritated with his son Cristiano Jr. who likes to drink the soda.