With over 7,000 confirmed cases and 170 deaths in China, global concern about the coronavirus is understandable.
But the hysteria and misinformation surrounding the disease has caused quite a hangover for the Mexican brewery Corona, which has nothing to do with the virus, apart from the unfortunate semantic coincidence.
Data from Google Trends, a Google tool that identifies the most popular topics at the moment, reveals that searches in English linking the beer brand and the Coronavirus have skyrocketed in recent days.
Between January 18 and 26, searches for the terms "corona beer virus" jumped 2,300% worldwide.
The coronavirus was named as such because of the appearance of the virus particles. They have a kind of "fringe," which resembles a royal crown. "Corona," in Latin, means crown.
The Mexican beer Corona, which has a crown as its symbol, was created in 1925, well before the discovery of the virus – in 1965.
"We believe, in general, that consumers understand that there is no link between the virus and our business," Maggie Bowman, senior director of communications at Constellation Brands, the producer of Corona, told Business Insider .
There is no information about the possible impact of this unfortunate mix-up and coincidence on the sale of alcoholic beverages, but the fact did not go unnoticed on the internet.
Several memes and jokes linking beer and the disease have gone viral on social media. One of them shows several Heineken beers with a surgical mask next to a Corona beer to "protect" themselves from contamination.
Another meme that circulated online and in WhatsApp groups shows a man unconscious next to a case of Corona beer. The text reads "first Mexican victim of the coronavirus."
Epidemic
The Chinese province of Hubei, in Wuhan, is the region with the highest concentration of Coronavirus cases. The disease has already been confirmed in more than 14 countries, and in some of them, such as Germany and Vietnam, patients have been registered who have not been to Chinese territory. Brazil is investigating nine suspected cases of coronavirus in six states.
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