Cristiano Ronaldo rejects a Coca-Cola and the company loses almost 4,000 million dollars in value on the stock market

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 harm the work done. Something like this happened this Monday to Coca-Cola, one of the main sponsors of the Eurocopa de futbol that takes place these weeks. Barely 20 seconds, those that elapsed between Cristiano Ronaldo's entry into the press room and the player's contrary gesture, which damages the company's reputation and could be responsible for a loss in market capitalization of 3,967 million dollars (3,272 millions of euros).

Más información
La península Ibérica arrastra a Coca-Cola Europa: sus ventas caen un 20% en el primer trimestre
Coca-Cola y los sindicatos pactan un ERE para 360 personas en España

The scene was as follows: the Portuguese player sits, looking askance at the two bottles. He approaches the table, leans back in his chair as if gaining momentum, and then he makes up his mind. He takes the two soft drinks with some disdain and removes them from the foreground. Next, he shows a bottle of water (without a label, that is, without a brand) and ends: "Water, not Coca-Cola...". It may seem somewhat 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 decline 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% during the day, also in the red, although with less intensity.

Cristiano Ronaldo rechaza una Coca-Cola y la empresa pierde casi 4.000 millones de dólares de valor en Bolsa

Be that as it may, Coca-Cola went from having a value similar to Friday's closing price ($56.16 per share) to falling to $55.24, a fall of 1.6%. At the end of the day, the firm rose somewhat and closed the day with a value of $55.55. Although this Tuesday it has returned to a downward trend and closed at $ 55.41. Thus, it has gone from having a stock market value of 242,144 million dollars on Friday to 238,910 million this Tuesday.

Conoce en profundidad todas las caras de la moneda.
Suscríbete

This event occurred 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 star product of the brand. 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, moreover, it rains as it pours, 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 have, without consuming sugary or high-fat products. “I am hard on my son. Sometimes he drinks Coca-Cola and Fanta, and eats French fries. He knows I don't like it," he said then. However, this time the blow to the company has been more noticeable. And what was an investment in publicity during the tournament has turned against him.