Budapest, June 14, 2021. Cristiano Ronaldo sits down in front of the microphones before Portugal’s match against Hungary at Euro 2020. He sees two Coca-Cola bottles on the podium, picks them up, moves them out of frame, lifts a bottle of water and says a single word: “Water”. The whole gesture lasted less than five seconds.
Minutes later, Coca-Cola’s stock on Wall Street went from $56.10 to $55.22. A 1.6% drop that wiped about $4 billion off its market capitalization in a matter of hours.
Coca-Cola responded in a statement saying that “everyone is entitled to their drink preferences” with different “tastes and needs”. 😅
The video went viral instantly, and headlines around the world turned it into a story that is still remembered several years later. 🫣