Cristiano Ronaldo has become the latest high-profile figure to receive a community note on the social media platform X.
The Portuguese star has a lengthy list of endorsement deals with some of the biggest brands in the world including Nike and Unilever.
However, one of his sponsorships has now prompted users on X to call out Ronaldo.
The 39-year-old shared a promotional post for health and wellness product Herbalife.
Ronaldo’s caption read: “A good way to start the day? A healthy breakfast. Herbalife Formula 1 delivers a balanced mix of protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals.”
Ronaldo also included the hashtags ‘#Herbalife’ and ‘#HealthyBreakfast’.
However, there was one very important hashtag or note he forgot to include and fans were quick to jump on it.
A community note popped up underneath Ronaldo’s post and it read: “Herbalife is a multilevel marketing corporation, Ronaldo is being paid for the promotional post, he should have marked the post as an ad.”
Ronaldo also shared the same post to Instagram but, similarly to X, he did not label that as an ad.
The 39-year-old has been sponsored by Herbalife since 2013, with the pair renewing the deal in May last year.
When the sponsorship deal was first announced over a decade ago, Herbalife released a sports drink titled Herbalife24 CR7 Drive, ‘designed specifically to meet the nutritional needs’ of Ronaldo and ‘benefit athletes of all levels across the globe.’
Although Herbalife remain involved in sponsoring athletes across a variety of sports, their marketing methods have been viewed as highly questionable.
Ronaldo was hit with a community note underneath a post promoting Herbalife[/caption]
Herbalife has been dogged for years over allegations it operates as a pyramid scheme, which is when a business makes more profit by bringing in new salespeople as opposed to the actual product it sells.
The company was forced to pay a $200million (£154million) fine to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in 2016 and change its business model as the FTC declared Herbalife had cheated ambitious salespeople out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Herbalife also had to cough up $20m (£15.4m) to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over what the SEC deemed false and misleading statements about its business model in China over a six-year period.
It’s unlikely Ronaldo is aware about the extend of Herbalife’s controversial marketing methods given he continues to smash goals for Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr.
Ronaldo has 10 goals in 14 games across all competitions this season and was on the scoresheet in Al Nassr’s 5-1 thrashing of Emirati side Al Ain, who promptly sacked Hernan Crespo after the defeat.
The Portuguese superstar is back in action for Al Nassr on Friday evening as they take on Al Riyadh.
