Fear of the coronavirus known as Covid-19 has found a new victim with an unfortunate name association: one of the world’s favorite beers.

Corona beer producer Constellation Brands saw its stock plummet 8% this week as the Corona brand became the butt of jokes in memes and videos shared on social media.

Online search engines have also reported an increase in searches of terms like “beer coronavirus” and “corona beer virus.”

The purchase intent, or the probability that a consumer will buy a certain product, for the beer has fallen to its lowest levels in two years, according to data company YouGov.

The YouGov “buzz score” — a measure of the positive or negative associations the public has with a certain brand — for Corona has fallen from 75 at the beginning of 2020 to 51 as the virus spreads across the globe.

Corona is the third-most popular beer in the United States, according to YouGov data, just after Guinness and Heineken.

YouGov business data journalist Graeme Bruce said that the company could also be feeling the pinch from the brand’s low season, as it is considered a warm-weather summer beer associated with the sun and the beach.

Bruce said this reputation has caused the beer to have significant seasonal fluctuations in sales.

However, the bad reputation from the false association with the Covid-19 virus can’t be helping, especially now that Mexico has confirmed the first two cases of the virus in the country.

Meanwhile, some fans of Victoria beer are not too concerned. So far, they say, there has been no word of a victoriavirus.

Source: Bloomberg (en)