EXTRA: Americans ‘won’t buy Corona beer’ amid coronavirus outbreak

A new survey has found that some American beer-drinkers are avoiding Corona Extra, a Mexican beverage brand, amid the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19).

According to the survey from 5WPR, an independently-owned PR agency, 38% of beer-drinking Americans — above the age of 21 — won’t buy Corona beer due to fear that it could be connected to the coronavirus — since the pathogen shares the same name with the beer.

The survey said that 16% of beer-drinkers in the US were confused about whether Corona beer is related to the virus while 14% said they wouldn’t order the beer in a public venue.

“There is no question that Corona beer is suffering because of the coronavirus,” said Ronn Torossian, the founder of 5WPR.

“Could one imagine walking into a bar and saying, “Hey, can I have a Corona?” or “Pass me a Corona”.

In another survey by YouGov, it was discovered that beer-drinking Americans’ intent to purchase Corona beer fell to its lowest level since 2018.

Constellation Brands, the company which brews several variations of the popular lager, however, reacted to the new development.

Stephanie McGuane, its spokesperson, told CNN Business that Corona beer won’t be making any changes to its advertising.

She added that customers “understand there is no link between the virus and our business.”

“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.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), viruses are named “based on their genetic structure to facilitate the development of diagnostic tests, vaccines, and medicines.”

About 83,774 people have been infected and 2,867 have so far died of the zoonotic disease as efforts by medical experts to find a vaccine have not yielded results just yet.