Are 38 Percent of Americans Avoiding Corona Beer Because of the Coronavirus?

A flawed survey is being misrepresented.

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The internet was abuzz Friday over a survey purporting to show that 38 percent of Americans would not buy Corona beer “under any circumstances” because of the coronavirus.

“There is no question that Corona beer is suffering because of the coronavirus,” said Ronn Torossian, CEO of the public relations firm—5WPR—that conducted the poll. “While the brand has claimed that consumers understand there’s no linkage between the virus and the beer company, this is a disaster for the Corona brand. After all, what brand wants to be linked to a virus which is killing people worldwide?”

Not long after the press release was sent, major news outlets started amplifying the alleged findings, and amateur Twitter pundits started spinning the results: 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Kevin Townsley

    Corona going out of business entirely would be a fantastic silver lining of a pandemic. It is absolute trash. If anyone from The Dispatch wants some real beer, shoot me an email with shipping info and I'll send you a good selection from Treehouse.

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  2. Avatar photo
    Bill Nelson

    When we get to budvirus, I'm toast.

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  3. Token Liberal

    If I'm going believe misinformation about beer, I prefer to believe it will build immunities!

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    1. Avatar photo
      Smitty

      May favorite part about beer is that it is a diuretic. It makes me thirsty so I can drink another beer. And now to find out it builds immunity too? Black and Tan quarantine!

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  4. Avatar photo
    J.Seravalli

    True story: when Toyota was trying to enter the Latin American market they introduced three cars, the affordable Corolla, the midrange Corona (that's right) and the luxurious Crown. A few years later they realized that Corona = Crown so they removed the latter, which could not compete with the European or American luxury vehicles. The Crown was later re-introduced as the Camry, exclusively for the American market. It was a smashing success.

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  5. Avatar photo
    Patti Scriffiny

    I’m always looking for something to show my stats class about dumb things people do with stats...thanks for my next warmup!

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  6. Avatar photo
    6Million$Jonah

    “lime-loving lager”? I came for the reporting but I’ll stay for the writing. Much like Cartman, I love you guys.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Bill Nelson

      In Arizona, it is illegal to serve Corona without limes.

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    Paul Reichardt

    Maybe with two slices of lime in your Corona, you can at least avoid getting scurvy.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Smitty

      I've had Corona. How bad could scurvy be anyway?

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  8. Earl

    I no longer drink but Corona is the worst Mexican beer hands down.
    I am from and live in Corona, CA and I have been hearing the jokes from friends who live elsewhere saying, "thanks for the virus."
    Whatever...wasn't us.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Idontdocute

      Did the Lyme disease go with it?.....yeah, I know. It was going to be my only opportunity to use it.

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  9. Avatar photo
    Kenton A. Hoover

    Thank you for settling this key issue so we can go back to debating whether Indian or Mexican beer sucks more (Indian by leaps and bounds — their only good beer isn’t exported and by good I mean ok after suitable treatment).

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  10. Avatar photo
    Isaac P

    Torossian has been known as a self-promoting joke in the PR industry for more than 15 years.

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About Declan Garvey

Declan Garvey is the executive editor at the Dispatch and is based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the company in 2019, he worked in public affairs at Hamilton Place Strategies and market research at Echelon Insights. When Declan is not assigning and editing pieces, he is probably watching a Cubs game, listening to podcasts on 3x speed, or trying a new recipe with his wife.
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