Coronavirus Has Nothing To Do With Corona Beer

‘Beer Virus’ Helping Is Spreading False Rumors About The Disease

By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Beer & Spirits Blogger

There is fear of, and even backlash to, Corona beer during the coronavirus crisis. There’s even a nickname, the “beer virus.”

But one has nothing to do with the other, and sales of Corona beer are falling, according to two surveys released the last week of February.

A You Gov survey showed that beer drinker’s preference for Corona fell to its lowest level in two years. The beer’s so-called buzz score – which is not based on how you feel after drinking a Corona but a metric that measures favorability, has dropped significantly since the beginning of the year.

The PR firm 5W Public Relations conducted a survey which stated that 38% of Americans wouldn’t buy Corona “under any circumstances” because of the outbreak, and another 14% said they wouldn’t order a Corona in public. The agency only surveyed 737 beer drinkers in the USA, tho, which is less people than you can find in a Las Vegas nightclub on a weekend night.

There have also been on-line searches for “corona beer virus. In fact, you can’t even type in “Corona” without having most of the results come up coronavirus.

The maker of Corona, Constellation Brands, denies any negativity from coronavirus for its beer. In a statement it stated its customers “understand there is no link between the virus and our business.”

Constellation Brands spokesperson Stephanie McGuane told CNN Business that “sales of Corona remain very strong and we appreciate the continued support from our fans. Our advertising with Corona is consistent with the campaign we have been running for the last 30 years and is based off strong consumer sentiment.”

Certainly the timing isn’t good for Corona, as it jumps into the hot alcohol craze of hard seltzers. It was criticized on social media for its advertising campaign that on Twitter includes the phrase “coming ashore soon.”

As for the name coronavirus, it refers to the virus having a “crown.” Wikipedia explains the origin of the name here: “The name ‘coronavirus’ is derived from the Latin corona and the Greek κορώνη (korṓnē, ‘garland, wreath’), meaning crown or halo. This refers to the characteristic appearance of virions (the infective form of the virus) by electron microscopy, which have a fringe of large, bulbous surface projections creating an image reminiscent of a royal crown or of the solar corona.”

The Corona beer name is based on the crown that adorns the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

So Corona beer fans, go back to putting a lime in your clear bottle, sit back on a beach and relax.