How Coronavirus Re-Crowned Corona Beer as the World’s Leading Lager
By: David Majister
Tags: Coronavirus, Marketing, Pandemic, Business, Linguistics

CORONAVIRUS

How Coronavirus Re-Crowned Corona Beer as the World’s Leading Lager

Corona lager sales are up 40% — looks like I’m not the only one who thought of the joke

Photo by Jirka Matousek on Flickr / CC-2.0

In July 2020, the city where I live eased lockdown restrictions. For the first time in months, I went to visit a friend. What did I take to his garden? A 4-pack of Corona lager.

It seems like I’m not the only one who thought of this joke.

Sales of the Mexican lager in the US surged by 28.8% in March 2020. Drink market analysts IWSR said this likely due to “tongue-in-cheek” social media memes linking the brand to the virus.

Meanwhile, in the UK, sales of Corona beer are up 40% this year — the second-biggest increase of any lager brand.

Why this increase?

It’s a familiar brand — Corona is globally the world’s biggest lager brand. Brand consultant Henry Farr explains: “When so much of people’s lives are uncertain, consumers will look to brands they are familiar with and trust.”

— Corona is globally the world’s biggest lager brand. Brand consultant Henry Farr explains: “When so much of people’s lives are uncertain, consumers will look to brands they are familiar with and trust.” It’s part of a wider trend . Sales of alcoholic beverages soared during the early stages of stay-at-home orders, and figures released in Britain show that’s continued through the year. Corona beer is leading the trend and is outperforming most of its competitors.

. Sales of alcoholic beverages soared during the early stages of stay-at-home orders, and figures released in Britain show that’s continued through the year. Corona beer is leading the trend and is outperforming most of its competitors. No publicity is bad publicity. While not always strictly true, that seems to apply in this case. As stated above, market experts believe social media memes ironically linking Corona lager with the coronavirus were one of the reasons the beer saw such a large spike in sales compared to other lager brands.

Sales went down at the start of the pandemic

It was never a given that the link between Corona lager and the virus would lead to more sales.

In the first three months of 2020, the brand had its worst quarter in decades as fears around the virus started to increase, and consumers spent less time in bars. Google search trends at the time showed that people linked the virus to the beer.

What’s more, production of the beer halted for a period due to lockdown restrictions.

Why do Corona beer and the coronavirus have similar names?

It’s in the crown.

“Corona” is both the Spanish and Latin for crown.

On the label of Corona beer is a crown.

Coronavirus is named because of the crown-like spikes that are seen on the virus.

The World Health Organisation advises that virus names not be linked to locations, people’s names, animal species, food, or anything else that could incite blame. That’s because, in the past, diseases were named after the places they were discovered, and that led to the stigma around that location.

If you’re still wondering — yes, it’s still safe to drink Corona beer (in moderation!). There’s no link to the virus other than the name.