The simple gesture of Portuguese star footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo triggered an online campaign in a dramatic turn of events. It took just a couple of seconds for Cristiano to shave off approximately $4billion from the aerated drinks behemoth, Coca-Cola, from their market value.

The fitness freak of the Portugal football team once again expressed his displeasure towards carbonated drinks that stimulated millions of responses from people of all sections. In a pre-match conference, Ronaldo pushed away two bottles of Coca-Cola and asked for a bottle of water instead of in Portuguese, “Agua.” The public act has been perceived as a gesture to encourage people to “drink water” instead of unhealthy aerated drinks. 
The public gesture of Ronaldo at a European Championship conference, Coca Cola as one of its sponsors, triggered mixed reactions from the online community. The beverage behemoth has seen price fall to $55.22 from $56.10, as per The Guardian.

The brief video has been widely shared on the internet and cracked people into laughter for how a simple and mindful gesture snowballed into the reduced market value of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola has reportedly seen a 1.6% dip in its market value falling to $238 billion from over $242 billion.

Even though the 36-year-old’s act attracted the attention of people on a global level, it shouldn’t hit as a surprise knowing about Ronaldo’s obsession for health and fitness. Upon moving the Coca-Cola bottles, Ronaldo also added: “drink water.”

How had Coca-Cola responded to Ronaldo’s spurn?

The aerated drinks behemoth, Coca-Cola, is one of the sponsors of the conference. However, Coca-Cola has been prompt in releasing its press statement to avoid any further churn of events. In an explanation, Coca-Cola said that people have different tastes and different needs. “Players are offered water alongside the soft drinks and Coca-Cola zero sugar, upon their arrival at our press conferences,” added Coca-Cola in a press statement.

Ronaldo’s despise for soft drinks:

Cristiano Ronaldo is considered to be one of the fittest sportspeople across the world. It is a known fact that Ronaldo is health-conscious and very specific about his fitness. Ronaldo even has a personal dietician and ramifies his routine diet to six small meals in a day. Ronaldo’s despise for Coca-Cola is genuine and it is not just limited to Cola; rather to all aerated drinks. He gets furious with sugary foods or drinks on his table. Ronaldo has explained that he doesn’t even let his son consume sugary drinks and food, he said in an interview. 
However, Ronaldo is not the only person to express their public displeasure on carbonated drinks. Pullela Gopichand, former All England Champion and current Indian badminton coach too responded similarly in the past and rejected an endorsement offer from a soft drink major. He believes that these products are extremely harmful.

Online trollers, as always, are quick to make it a trend, and memes featuring Cristiano Ronaldo started inundating the social media platforms since the incident. Here are just a few of them for you to go through and tear with laughter: How Cristiano Ronaldo's Simple Gesture Led To An OnlineMeme Fest.