Cristiano Ronaldo accused of ‘ambush marketing’ after promoting £229 wristband following Slovenia game
4 July 2024, 07:37
Cristiano Ronaldo has been accused of “ambush marketing” after his heart rate data from Portugal's game against Slovenia was published by the fitness company WHOOP.
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WHOOP designs wearable devices that measure a range of measures including your heart rate, athletic performance, and sleep score.
Ronaldo, the captain of Portugal, recently partnered with the brand and is wearing his device during Euro 2024.
Following Portugal's penalty win against Slovenia, WHOOP published Ronaldo's data from the game.
It shows the former Manchester United star “entered a flow state and dropped his heart rate” just moments before his scored in the penalty shoot-out.
It then surged to 180bpm when Bernardo Silva scored the winning kick to send Portugal through to the semi-finals.
However, the data released by WHOOP was only partial, as it did not show what happened when Ronaldo missed an earlier penalty kick, nor what happened when he started crying after seeing his mother in the stands.
It has led to accusations of "ambush marketing" by Ricardo Fort, the former head of global sponsorships at Visa and Coca-Cola.
When you’re @Cristiano, there’s no fear in football. See how CR7 entered a flow state and dropped his heart rate moments before changing momentum of the match against Slovenia. See you in the quarterfinals, Portugal! pic.twitter.com/E9kLLTdFjt
— WHOOP (@WHOOP) July 2, 2024
"This chart has been circulating today," Mr Fort posted. "Cristiano and WHOOP is ambush marketing to Euro 2024. It is illegal and both the player and the company should be fined."
Wearable devices such as WHOOP are allowed in football.
In addition, the data published does not specifically mention Euro 2024, which could represent an infringement of Uefa’s intellectual property.
