Hold on, did Virat Kohli actually say he's no longer endorsing Pepsi?
Virat Kohli isn't big on soft drinks and he's ending his sponsorship agreement with PepsiCo, several news outlets reported yesterday.
According to Indian Express, Kohli’s deal with the beverage giant will expire on June 30 and if he doesn't renew his contract, Kohli will lose a deal worth multiple crores.
But is Kohli actually doing this?
In a recent interview with LiveMint, Kohli said, "We are actually on the cusp of making some big changes on [the endorsement] front. Things that I’ve endorsed in the past, I won’t take names, but something that I feel that I don’t connect to anymore. If I myself won’t consume such things, I won’t urge others to consume it just because I’m getting money out of it."
He had also said, "When I started my fitness turnaround, it was more of a lifestyle thing initially. But now I think [my fitness philosophy] has become so important to the sport —everyone’s taking it up in such a big way—that for me it’s become a part of my thinking pattern. If something goes away from that, I would not want to be a part of that or be promoting that..."
Kohli endorses three brands from the Indian food and beverage sector — namely, Pepsi, kids' milk drink Boost and nutrition and weight management products company Herbalife. Hints about the possibility of his philosophical rift with Pepsi have been swirling since March, it seems. This has led news outlets to conclude that Kohli and Pepsi are over.
But there has been no official confirmation from Kohli or his spokespersons about this.
But there have been some premature hurrahs on Twitter.
We'll hold our celebrations until Kohli's spokespersons actually announce the split!
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