Ronaldo pass may put Cola endorsers in a spot | Economic Times

TV pictures of Cristiano Ronaldo moving two Coca-Cola bottles out of the frame at a Euro 2020 press conference and holding up a bottle of water instead could force other celebrities to re-evaluate endorsements of unhealthy and junk food in India and elsewhere. The footballer’s gesture had led to a $4 billion tumble in market capitalisation of the cola giant.That trend got an impetus in India four years back when cricket captain Virat Kohli refused to renew his contract with soda brand Pepsi, industry executives said. Now, not a single sports celebrity endorses either of the flagship cola brands in India."Sports stars are huge youth influencers and in this digital age, their followers see through the ‘fitness washing’ or lip service to health and fitness commitments," said Rohit Ohri, group chairman at creative ad agency FCB India, who’s previously worked closely with some of brand Pepsi’s biggest campaigns. "This goes beyond just sports stars, and encompasses all major influencers."The delinking is spilling over to Bollywood as well. 83593153"With the overall narrative stacked against junk foods, sports and other celebrities conscious of their own images will resist associating with such categories," said brand and social commentator Santosh Desai. "This is inevitable and it is eventually about celebrities building their own brands."Nestle India’s Maggi noodles, for example, has not had a big celebrity endorsement since the controversy over excessive lead content broke in 2015. Before that, actress Madhuri Dixit used to endorse the flagship Maggi brand.‘Contracts Becoming More Stringent’Now, one-off variants such as Maggi spinach or seasoning are endorsed through short-term contracts — actors Rajkummar Rao and Sanya Malhotra have endorsed the spinach variant temporarily.PepsiCo’s sports and health drink Gatorade is now the only brand in its portfolio in India endorsed by a sportsperson — badminton star PV Sindhu. However, Gatorade is a sports and health drink.In 2019, Coca-Cola India had roped in MS Dhoni, but that was to endorse its sports drink Powerade.Last year, PepsiCo had signed India cricketer Shafali Verma, 16, as a ‘swag star’ but only for a one-off campaign. While some of the big brands have actors endorsing colas, talent managers say contracts are increasingly turning more stringent."Irrespective of the (Ronaldo) episode, the health movement and amplification on social media has been escalating in recent times," said Vinita Bangard, founder of Krossover Entertainment, which has worked on deals with Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Shah Rukh Khan. "While celebs are making their individual choices and doing thorough background checks before signing on brands, contracts too are turning more stringent and building in clauses to safeguard interests of both the brands and celebrities."While Salman Khan and Tiger Shroff endorse Pepsi, Hrithik Roshan endorses Mountain Dew. And even though Ranbir Kapoor does endorse Coke, the brand shows an equal number of ads without any celebrities.Industry executives said the impact social media will continue to have on brands with such incidents will only cascade. Ronaldo, for example, has 92.2 million followers on Twitter and another 299 million followers on Instagram. After the Ronaldo-Coke episode, France midfielder Paul Pogba removed a bottle of Heineken 0.0 non-alcoholic beer that was placed in front of him at another Euro 2020 news conference on Tuesday. Coca-Cola is one of the official sponsors for Euro 2020. The world’s biggest soft drinks maker reacted to Ronaldo’s gesture with a statement that said: "Everyone is entitled to their drink preferences, with different tastes and needs."Grey areas, such as indirect associations, where an individual may not be endorsing a brand, but the sports property where he or she is playing is sponsored by a ‘sin’ brand will also need to be reviewed, executives said.