When Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba removed Coca-Cola and Heineken bottles during Euro 2020 press conferences, it showed sports stars are rejecting sponsors’ products that fail to correspond to their personal values, analysts say.
Ronaldo has a combined social media audience of around 500 million followers, so when he speaks, it has an impact.
The 36-year-old Portugal captain is a fitness fanatic and made clear what he thought of the Coca-Cola bottle set out in front of him as he spoke to the media on Monday before his country’s opening match against Hungary.
He shifted the bottle out of sight of the cameras before saying in Portuguese: “Agua!”, appearing to encourage people to opt for the natural choice instead.