According to ESPN’s Adriana, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo caused Coca-Cola to lose $4 billion in market value with a single remark.

Cristiano Ronaldo ejected two Coca-Cola bottles from a Euro 2020 news conference. After this, the soft drink and snack behemoth saw its market value plummet by $4 billion.

“Água,” he exclaimed in Portuguese, taking up a bottle of water and seeming to encourage others to do the same. “No Coca-Cola.”

Football star @Cristiano Ronaldo removed two bottles of tournament sponsors Coca-Cola as he entered a #Euro2020 news conference before encouraging people to drink water.

Watch more videos from Sky News: https://t.co/gQ5Raqks0q pic.twitter.com/XiKgBrgjw0

— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 16, 2021

The underlying meaning of the gesture is — avoid fizzy drinks in favor of water.

Coca-stock Cola’s price fell 1.6% almost immediately, from $56.10 to $55.22 (£39.76 to £39.14). The company’s market capitalization dropped from $242 billion to $238 billion, a $4 billion (£2.8 billion) decline.

The shares of the soft-drink maker fell 1.34 percent to $54.67.

The 36-year-old Juventus star, who has over 300 million followers on his own Instagram account, is known for following rigorous physical and dietary regimes and has previously condemned soft drink use.

According to a Euros spokesman, “everyone is entitled to their drink preferences,” with varied “tastes and needs.”

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

In September 2019, UEFA announced that Coca-Cola has agreed to be the “the official non-alcoholic beverage sponsor” of Euro 2020: “The sponsorship deal will give the company the opportunity to showcase several brands, including sparkling beverages, sports drinks, water, ready-to-drink coffee and fruit-based drinks, with low, and sugar-free options.”

Coca-Cola said in an email to The Washington Post that the firm “did not have anything further to add” to UEFA’s statement.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid player has already voiced his dislike for soft drinks, saying at an event that he was enraged when he found his kids drinking Coca Cola or Fanta.

Ronaldo has a commercial portfolio worth $45 million per year, according to Forbes. In 2020, he sponsored big companies such as Altice, DAZN, Herbalife, MTG, Nike, and Unilever.

His criticism was lauded by American football player Tom Brady, who has attributed his long and successful career to his rigorous diet.

At a Euro 2020 press conference on Tuesday, France player Paul Pogba withdrew a bottle of Heineken beer that had been put in front of him.

After drinking from a can of Pepsi at a press conference, Ronaldinho lost his $750,000-a-year sponsorship agreement with Coca Cola.