Corona beer receives flak for Twitter post

USA | Some people are stupid. Reportedly, internet searches for “corona+beer+virus” have risen in recent weeks. Although there is no connection between the coronavirus and the popular Mexican beer, that hasn’t stopped people from getting the two confused.

Constellation Brands, which brews Corona in Mexico for sale in the US, has said it trusts its customers not to link its Corona beers to the coronavirus.

However, for reasons unknown, some of its customers have still taken offence to Corona USA posting a short video on Twitter on 25 February. It shows its new line of Corona hard seltzers with the catch line: “coming ashore soon”.

Is this really bad taste?

Several commenters found the ad distasteful and questioned its timing, with the coronavirus beginning to spread globally.

Constellation Brands’ spokesperson Maggie Bowman told the website businessinsider.com that the message in the advertising campaign has worked in the past. This is true. For decades, Corona has used the sun, sand, beach motif in its advertising.

“Our advertising with Corona is consistent with the campaign we have been running for the last 30 years,” Ms Bowman was quoted as saying. “While we empathise with those who have been impacted by this virus and continue to monitor the situation, our consumers, by and large, understand there’s no linkage between the virus and our business.”

Investors in Constellation Brands must be sensitive souls too, because during the last week of February, Constellation’s share price lost 15 percent and tumbled to USD 176.