By Uday Sampath Kumar
(Reuters) – Coca-Cola Co has not seen any direct sales impact after Portugal soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo removed two bottles of its soda placed in front of him at a Euro 2020 press conference in June, the beverage giant’s finance chief said on Wednesday.
Ronaldo, a health fanatic with an aversion to carbonated drinks, snubbed the brand by holding a bottle of water and saying “agua”, Portuguese and Spanish for water. His action sent the internet into a frenzy and briefly wiped off billions of dollars from the company’s market capitalization.
“You have to take the long view on these partnerships. You’re always going to have some events that don’t necessarily go your way and we just deal with them and manage them as such,” Coca-Cola Chief Financial Officer John Murphy said in an interview.
“Our commitment to these major tournaments has not been affected,” Murphy added.
The soda maker raised its full-year sales and profit forecasts on Wednesday, as demand bounces back from pandemic lows for its beverages following the re-opening of theaters, restaurants and stadiums.
(Reporting by Uday Sampath and Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
