News channels buzzed last week after soft drinks giant Pepsi in Sweden made the gauche decision to publish voodoo doll images of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo on their official facebook site. The pictures showed the doll poked by needles, tied to a railway track and its face smashed by a Pepsi can – all part of a campaign in support of the Sweden team prior to their match against Portugal on November 19.
Some writers estimated the resulting boycott of Pepsi Cola at “10.6 million people”. Time will tell, but in Portugal emotions were running high in the aftermath of the World Cup qualifying play-off, where Ronaldo triumphed with a masterful hat-trick.
In Braga, pizza restaurant proprietor Fernando Pinheiro actually held a “Pepsi machine smashing” party.
Read the full report in the Algarve Resident’s printed edition out this Thursday.
