Ronaldinho: the curious and unexpected reason why he lost an expensive sponsorship deal

Nowadays, the players are sometimes the faces of advertisements. They end up representing the company at the same time they play for their clubs and countries, and they get a lot of money for that reason in the sponsorship deals. They become unofficial workers for that businesses. 

What happened to Ronaldinho was something that seemed innocent, but that made him lose a contract of 700,000 dollar per year. He had signed a sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola in 2007 and represented the company in advertisements and events, but in 2012 they cut ties with the FC Barcelona legend for a curious reason.

The deal was cancelled because Ronaldinho was seen drinking Pepsi. The Brazilian star gave an interview and there was a can of that drink on the table. An executive of Coca-Cola back then said that his name had been attached to negative news, regarding his crazy lifestyle and lack of discipline when being a soccer professional, and that had an influence on the decision.

There are some other cases like this, like the time Mario Götze was announced as the new Bayern Munich signing and he wore a Nike shirt, while his new club wore Adidas. The World Cup winner was fined, but that was all. For Ronaldinho, it was the end of a fruitful sponsorship deal. He should have put the can further.