Old Coca-Cola and KFC ads starring Cristiano Ronaldo resurfaced after he went viral for snubbing the drink

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Old Coca-Cola and KFC ads starring Cristiano Ronaldo resurfaced after he went viral for snubbing the drink
Ronaldo appeared in a Coke advert in the early 2000s.Screenshot/YouTube
  • An old Coca-Cola ad starring Cristiano Ronaldo resurfaced after he snubbed the drink at Euro 2020.
  • Ronaldo scoffed at two bottles of Coke in front of him at a press event on Monday.
  • Ronaldo had also starred in an ad for KFC in the Middle East in 2013.
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After Cristiano Ronaldo scoffed at Coca-Colas at a Euro 2020 press conference on Monday, ads that show him endorsing the brand and the fried-chicken giant KFC resurfaced.

Ronaldo removed two bottles of Coke from his table and held up a bottle of water while speaking to reporters ahead of Portugal's match against Hungary.

"Coca-Cola, ugh," he said. Coca-Cola lost $4 billion in market value after the 36-year-old's snub of the drink.

The resurfaced Coke ad starring Ronaldo appeared to be part of a marketing campaign in China for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

The ad shows the Portuguese star superimposed on Coke cans branded in simplified Chinese and playing soccer with an ice cube in a fridge. It ends with an image of the Coca-Cola logo and the World Cup trophy.

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Several grainy, low-quality versions of the ad can be found on YouTube, published as long ago as 2008.

Some people on social media accused the Juventus forward of hypocrisy after the old ad emerged.

"So Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't like Coke huh?" Jake Buckley, an Australian YouTuber, tweeted alongside promotional images of the star.

"Well this is awkward," he added. "Guess the pay check stopped coming."

Others pointed out that Ronaldo - who's said to follow an extremely healthy, and voluminous, diet - had also endorsed the fast-food brand KFC.

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In a 2013 ad for KFC in the Middle East, Ronaldo scores a penalty before tucking into a bucket of fried chicken. That ad was on the KFCArabia YouTube channel.

While some accused Ronaldo of hypocrisy, others praised him for using his platform in 2021 to discourage people from drinking fizzy drinks.

Some people on social media noted that he was in his early 20s when he appeared in the Coca-Cola ad.

In 2020, Ronaldo's former Manchester United teammate Ryan Giggs said Ronaldo had once arrived at training with a can of Coca-Cola, only to be admonished by his senior teammate.

Giggs confirmed the story, first recounted on Twitter in 2016 by Jan Åge Fjørtoft, during an appearance on the official Manchester United podcast last June.

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Endorsements aside, Ronaldo was the star as Portugal beat Hungary 3-0 in its opening game of the Euro 2020 tournament on Tuesday.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward scored twice in the final five minutes to take his all-time tally of goals at the European championships to 11 and become the tournament's greatest scorer.

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