How Cristiano Ronaldo cost Coca Cola $4 billion just in one hour

As the most followed person on Instagram and being one of the GOATs of football, Cristiano Ronaldo has an influence like no other person.

In June 2021, at the delayed Euro 2020 finals, Ronaldo showed just how much influence he has off the football pitch regarding Coca-Cola.

At a press conference in the build-up to Portugal's game against Hungary, Ronaldo removed a bottle of Coca-Cola from the TV view and said 'drink water' in Portuguese.

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The small and insignificant gesture had a significant impact on Coca-Cola's market value, with the company seeing one of its biggest drops in value in such a short space of time.

Before Cristiano Ronaldo made his comment, Coca-Cola's shares were worth $56.1 each when the market opened and fell to $55.2 by the end of the press conference.

The 1.6% drop in share prices may not seem like a lot, but it meant that Coca-Cola lost $4 billion in market value!

According to theathletic.com, Coca-Cola released a statement saying, "Everyone is entitled to their drink preferences" and that everyone has different "tastes and needs."

"Players are offered water, alongside Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar on arrival at our press conferences."

Famously, Cristiano Ronaldo is incredibly strict in his diet and workout schedule, being known to eat up to six clean meals a day.

According to timesofindia.com, Ronaldo said: "Occasionally, my son drinks Coca-Cola or Fanta and eats crisps, and he knows I don't like that."

After the incident, several brands jumped on the Ronaldo bandwagon, with Europe's leading furniture retail company, Ikea, attempting to release a reusable water bottle under the name 'Cristiano.'

Major water brands like Evian shared the video of Ronaldo removing the Coca-Cola bottle from the stand and wrote a caption saying, "Couldn't have said it better ourselves!"

The World Health Organization also tried to benefit from Ronaldo's actions, posting a link on social media to highlight the benefits of cutting out sugars from your diet.

Ronaldo's strict lifestyle choices have benefitted on the pitch, with the 38-year-old finishing as the top scorer in the world for 2023.

'CR7' has had a blistering hot year for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, scoring 54 goals in 59 matches, beating out Kylian Mbappé (52 in 53), Harry Kane (52 in 57), and Erling Haaland (50 in 60).

Ronaldo and LeBron James have shown that if you watch what you eat and dedicate yourself to training, there are no limits to how long you can dominate a sport!