上周，在欧洲杯的一次新闻发布会上，著名足球明星C罗略显不耐烦地挪开桌上两瓶可口可乐——可口可乐正是欧洲杯官方赞助商之一，并以一瓶水取而代之。
“水！”他将瓶装水放在桌子中央，用葡萄牙语向镜头强调。
这个视频被疯狂地报道转载，许多新闻媒体报道，C罗对可口可乐的冷落令这饮料巨头蒸发上十亿美金。实际的损失在每个新闻媒体的报道中有所差异，但大多在40亿-50亿美元之间。
C罗站在网红吸金的金字塔顶端
“对于任何一个品牌来说，被世界上最受关注的足球明星这样对待都是大件事，”Tim Crow，20年来建议可口可乐赞助足球活动体育营销顾问这样说道。“可乐品牌花费上百万美元成为欧洲足球联合会的赞助商，与此同时参赛团体有义务在新闻发布会上和赞助商品牌产品一同出镜。但事情总是有风险的。”
C罗以极度注重自律地保持健康出名。他一天少食多餐6顿，小睡5次，并在Instagram上打卡展示给他将近3亿的粉丝。
“C罗站在网红吸金的金字塔顶端”，PR专家Mark Borkowski说道。“这是个人品牌的崛起，具有非常强大的影响力。所以C罗不惧于强调他对健康生活方式的追求。”
现年36岁，C罗是世界上最有名的足球明星，并一人缔造了一个金钱帝国：通过足球俱乐部工资、奖金、代言等商业活动，他已经可以赚上十亿美金。更关键的是，在各种社交媒体上，他有近5亿的粉丝，这给他不必遵从俱乐部、比赛和赞助商商业条款的底气。他是Instagram上最能吸金的人，单条广告推广报价100万美元。每年在社交平台上4000万美元的收入比他在尤文图斯的工资还高。
这些波动都和C罗没什么关系
不过，C罗真能天凉王破，一举蒸发可口可乐几十亿美元吗？
可口可乐的股票的确在新闻发布会后下跌，但不能说明这完全由C罗在发布会上的举动导致。事实上，在C罗发布会上冷落可乐之前，可乐股票就已经开始下跌。当然，C罗对于产品的喜爱或抗拒确实可能在短期内影响股市，但我们也要知道，虽然40亿美元听上去很吓人，对于可口可乐这个市值的公司来说，类似的波动在过去并不太少见，而这些波动都和C罗没什么关系。
根据福布斯报道，这是一例“后真相”——这是2016年牛津英语词典的年度热词。“后真相”被定义为“客观事实对公众舆论的影响不如诉诸情感和个人信仰大的一种情境”。
在当前的社交媒体环境中，真相的传达可能会被刻意操纵，而更多的人开始利用这种信息错位牟利。由此看出，尤其在这个信息时代，批判性思考对于商业人士甚至是普通读者的重要性。
Does Coca-Cola’s $4 billion evaporation
have something to do with Cristiano Ronaldo？
During a Euro 2020 press conference last week， soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo irritably moved two bottles of Coca-Cola aside， one of the official sponsors of the event， and then picked up a bottle of water.
“água！” he exclaimed in Portuguese， setting the bottle down in the center of his desk.
As this video went viral， a number of outlets reported that Ronaldo’s Coca-Cola snub had cost the company billions of dollars. The exact cost of the snub varied from outlet to outlet， but the general claim was that it cost Coca-Cola between $4 and $5 billion.
Ronaldo is right at the top of social media earners
“It’s obviously a big moment for any brand when the world’s most followed footballer on social media does something like that，” says Tim Crow， a sports marketing consultant who advised Coca-Cola on football sponsorship for two decades. “Coke pays tens of millions to be a Uefa sponsor and as part of that there are contractual obligations for federations and teams， including taking part in press conferences with logos and products. But there are always risks.”
Ronaldo is famous for his dedicated approach to health and fitness. He is known to eat six meals and take five naps a day， which he documents to his almost 300 million Instagram followers.
“Ronaldo is right at the top of social media earners，” says PR expert Mark Borkowski. “It is about the rise of the personal brand， the personal channel， it gives so much bloody power. That’s what has allowed Ronaldo to make a point about a healthy lifestyle.”
Now 36， the world’s most famous footballer has built an empire that has seen him make more than $1bn (￡720m) in football salaries， bonuses and commercial activities such as sponsorships. What is crucial is the global platform social media has given him – half a billion followers on Instagram， Twitter and Facebook – which has freed him from following the commercial rules of clubs， tournaments and their sponsors. He is the highest earner on Instagram， commanding $1m per paid post， and with more than $40m in income from the social media platform annually he makes more than his salary at Juventus.
These fluctuations have nothing to do with Ronaldo
But Did Ronaldo’s Coca-Cola Snub really cost the Company Billions？
While Coca-Cola’s stock truly fell after this news conference， there was no indication that this drop was entirely caused by Ronaldo’s preference for water. In fact， Coca-Cola’s stock was already falling by the time that Ronaldo snubbed Coke products in favor of water. It’s certainly possible that Ronaldo’s endorsements (or disapproval) of Coke products could temporarily influence the stock market， but a few other facts should be noted. While a $4 billion stock drop may sound like an absolutely devastating turn of events， this really isn’t a major story for Coca-Cola. The company has seen a number of similar drops and rises over the last year， and those changes had nothing to do with Ronaldo.
According to Forbes， this may be an example of “post-truth”， which is also the Oxford English Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2016. Post-truth is defined as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”.
In the current (social) media landscape， truth can be deliberately manipulated， and disinformation is a growing business. The incident reveals the importance of critical thinking for business leaders， and the reading public， especially now.
文：实习生 郭文伊 南都记者 蒋模婷
