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Pepsi Forced To Apologize For Cristiano Ronaldo Voodoo Doll

Nov 22, 2013, 00:01 IST

Pepsi's Cristiano Ronaldo ads went viral yesterday, but in the worst way possible for the company.

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Before yesterday World Cup qualifier between Portugal and Sweden, Pepsi's Swedish branch posted several ads featuring a voodoo doll of Ronaldo, Portugal's uber famous forward.

Here's one where the doll is strapped to train tracks:

Pepsi

The ads caught more attention in Portugal than Sweden, and Portuguese fans quickly set to work organizing against Pepsi. A Portuguese Facebook group proclaiming "I will never drink Pepsi again" has gained over 130,000 "likes" in the past day.

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Here's an ad with the doll's head crushed in:

Pepsi

Pepsi responded to the outrage by pulling the ads and issuing this statement: "We would never want to put the sport or the spirit of competition in a negative light. We regret if people were offended by the posts; they were immediately taken down. We would like to extend our apologies to all concerned."

The last one is an excessive take on a traditional voodoo curse:

Pepsi

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And in case you missed it, Portugal beat Sweden 3-2. Ronaldo scored all three goals, and the victory knocked Sweden out of the playoffs.

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