Corona beer suffering due to coronavirus outbreak

As the global coronavirus crisis worsens, a survey has found that more than a third of beer drinkers would no longer buy Corona beer.

As coronavirus continues to spread around the world, a new survey has shown that one popular beer brand is suffering as a result.

Corona beer has been told to “lay low for a few weeks”, after a poll by 5W Public Relations found that out of 737 beer drinkers in the United States, 38 per cent wouldn’t buy a Corona “under any circumstances” because of the outbreak. Another 14 per cent said they wouldn’t be seen ordering a beer from the brand in public.

Constellation Brands, which brews several variations of the popular alcohol, told CNN in a statement that its customers “understand there is no link between the virus and our business”.

“We’ve seen no impact to our people, facilities or operations and our business continues to perform very well,” the company’s CEO Bill Newlands said.

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Corona beer is suffering as a result of the worsening coronavirus outbreak.

But another survey, conducted by YouGov, found that consumers’ intent to purchase Corona had fallen to its lowest level in two years. According to CNN, Constellation Brands’ stock dropped 4 per cent on Friday and 8 per cent on Thursday.

Mr Newlands said that the reports did not reflect the company’s business performance, calling the “misinformation” about the virus’ impact on Corona’s business “extremely unfortunate”.

Customers have tweeted the beer brand telling them to “lay low for a few weeks”, and that their advertising was in “poor taste”.

A New Zealand bar at the end of January was met with a similar reception when it advertised a “tasteless” Corona beer promotion that cashed in on the deadly virus outbreak.

House of Hood, in Hamilton, said in a now-deleted poster that all Coronas would be $6.50 “while the pandemic lasts”, and featured two men in hazmat suits and face masks holding up Coronas.

The bar was slammed by customers, with many calling the advertisement “bad taste” and “crap”.

Online searches for “corona beer virus” spiked in at the end of January, but have since declined, with global searches of “corona beer virus” between January 18 and January 26 jumping 2300 per cent according to data from Google trends.