Bring it to the table, then take it away!

Everyone protests. One doth protest too much, another doth too little. Some get hoicked by the police for being too ‘terroristy’, while others don’t. But one form of protest that could well become the rage was conducted by Cristiano Ronaldo of ‘protesting-too-much-and-demanding-a-foul’ fame. At a press meet before Tuesday’s match against Hungary, the Portugal and Juventus footballer picked up two bottles of Coca-Cola — an official sponsor — that were in front of him, muttered ‘Agua’ while raising his bottle of water and clearly said ‘Coca-Cola’ with audible derision. That gesture has not only been seen as a ‘Thums Down’ of Coke — Coca-Cola share price dropped from $56.10 to $55.22 by the end of the press conference, climbing back to $55.41 by close of day — but could spawn other remove-from-the-table acts.

After France’s win over Germany later the same day, Paul Pogba removed a bottle of Heineken — another official sponsor — from the table (the two Coke bottles were left untouched). The France and Manchester United midfielder, a practising Muslim, may have been unaware that the bottle contained non-alcoholic beer. But then, no one thinks non-alcoholic when seeing the green bottle. Heineken, though, postedno losses. Removing objects from a table could be the next big thing. But it would mean bringing it to the table first.