Pepsi's Cristiano Ronaldo ads went viral yesterday, but in the worst way possible for the company.
Before yesterday World Cup qualifier between Portugal and Sweden, Pepsi's Swedish branch posted several ads featuring a voodoo doll of Ronaldo, Portugal's uber famous forward.
Here's one where the doll is strapped to train tracks:
Pepsi
The ads caught more attention in Portugal than Sweden, and Portuguese fans quickly set to work organizing against Pepsi. A Portuguese Facebook group proclaiming "I will never drink Pepsi again" has gained over 130,000 "likes" in the past day.
Here's an ad with the doll's head crushed in:
Pepsi
Pepsi responded to the outrage by pulling the ads and issuing this statement: "We would never want to put the sport or the spirit of competition in a negative light. We regret if people were offended by the posts; they were immediately taken down. We would like to extend our apologies to all concerned."
The last one is an excessive take on a traditional voodoo curse:
Pepsi
And in case you missed it, Portugal beat Sweden 3-2. Ronaldo scored all three goals, and the victory knocked Sweden out of the playoffs.
