Corona beer company slammed for ad campaign in ‘poor taste’ during virus outbreak
- Campaign for new hard soda water offerings says drinks will be ‘coming ashore soon’
- Brand refutes survey results saying 38 per cent of Americans ‘would not buy Corona under any circumstances now’, saying US sales remain strong
The company behind Corona beer has been getting an earful on social media over an awkwardly phrased advertising campaign to plug its new hard soda water offerings in the United States.
The beverages, available in four “delicious” flavours, will be “coming ashore soon”, according to the spot posted to Twitter that had received 7.3 million views by Friday on the Corona USA page. The post has since been removed.
“Given what’s hitting the news right now, this seems in remarkably poor taste,” one critic posted.
“Pretty sure Corona has always had remarkably poor taste,” another replied.
Confusion between coronavirus and Corona beer has been a punchline of questionable taste during the outbreak, but for the brand, the matter may be no joke.
The phrase “38% of Americans” was trending Friday on Twitter following a survey showing that proportion of beer drinkers “would not buy Corona under any circumstances now”, according to public relations firm 5W.