Corona (beer)

Corona is a Mexican brand of beer produced by Grupo Modelo in Mexico and exported to markets around the world. Constellation Brands is the exclusive licensee and sole importer of Corona in the fifty states of the United States, Washington, D.C., and Guam. Belgian company AB InBev owns the beer in all other worldwide markets and it solely brews the beer for all markets including the US. Corona is now brewed in China for the Australasia market. It is the top-selling brand of imported beer in the United States. It is often served with a wedge of lime or lemon in the neck of the bottle to add tartness and flavor. The recipe for the mash bill includes corn as well as the barley malt and hops traditionally used for making beer.

The brand's most popular variation is Corona Extra, a pale lager. It is one of the top-selling beers worldwide, and Corona Extra has been the top-selling imported drink in the U.S. since 1998. Other variants of the Corona beer brand include Corona Light, Corona Premier, and Corona Familiar. A variety of flavored hard seltzers marketed under the Corona brand name was launched in March 2020.

History

In July 1922 German immigrant and brewmaster, Adolph H. Schmedtje joined Cerveceria Modelo Sociedad Anónima (S.A.) to oversee production and created the Corona brew. Corona was officially introduced in 1925. In 1932 Cerveceria Modelo S.A. changed ownership and after a period of acquisition consolidated into Grupo Modelo. With the reduction of tariffs on the import of Mexican beer to the United States when NAFTA came into effect in 1994, along with an increase in immigration between the two countries, Corona grew in popularity in the United States.

Ingredients

According to Sinebrychoff, a Finnish company owned by the Carlsberg Group, Corona Extra contains barley malt, corn, hops, yeast, antioxidants (ascorbic acid), and propylene glycol alginate as a stabilizer.

Packaging

The label and logo of Corona was designed by Eduardo Cataño working under the advertising company Galas de México for brewery, around 1935.

Corona beer is available in a variety of bottle presentations, ranging from the ''ampolleta'' (labeled ''Coronita'' and just referred as the ''cuartito'') up to the ''Corona Familiar'' (known as the ''familiar'', ''Litro'' or ''Mega''). A draught version also exists, as does canned Corona in some markets.

Since the 80s, Corona had been branded as (literally, 'little crown') in Spain, as winemaker Bodegas Torres had owned the trademark for "Coronas" since 1907. The packaging was otherwise the same in Spain as in Mexico and the United States. AB InBev resolved the branding issues with Torres in 2016, with the beer starting to be sold as Corona in Spain from June of that year. In Mexico, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the United States, smaller, bottles of the beer are also branded as "Coronita".

Sponsorship partners

Corona was a longtime sponsor of boxing in Mexico, then the United States in the cable age, including sponsorship of Saturday night fights on Televisa, but reduced its sponsorship after Anheuser-Busch InBev took full control of the brand. In the United States, Constellation Brands continues to sponsor boxing through Corona, most notably with undefeated featherweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Corona was the title sponsor of the LPGA Tour tournament Corona Championship (later Tres Marias Championship) from 2005 to 2009, and of the NASCAR Mexico Corona Series (now NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series) from 2004 to 2011, the most followed stock car racing series in Mexico.

In addition, Corona is a "second sponsor" for four of the top-flight professional football teams of Mexico's first division, Liga MX. The teams sponsored by Corona are Santos Laguna, América, Toluca, and Mazatlán. Corona has sponsored the Mexico national football team since 2003, and has signed a contract to do so until 2026.

Corona and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) had a 5½–year sponsorship in which Corona was the ATP's premier worldwide sponsor. Corona was also the title sponsor of the SBK Superbike World Championship from 1998 until 2007.

Advertising

Corona refers to itself as "La cerveza más fina."

Corona commercials for both Corona Extra and Corona Light typically take place on a beach with the tagline "Miles Away From Ordinary" from 2000 to 2007. Since the early 2010s, the tagline "Find Your Beach" was used.

In 1990, Corona introduced a Christmas-themed commercial called "O Tannenpalm". It features a whistling rendition of the popular Christmas song " O Tannenbaum" as a palm tree lights up with Christmas lights, with the caption "Feliz Navidad" (Merry Christmas). "O Tannenpalm", the longest-running beer ad, has aired every year during the month of December.

Use in cocktails

Some bars and restaurants serve a "Coronarita", a beer cocktail that consists of a bottle of Corona upturned to drain into a margarita.

COVID-19 pandemic

In early 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, CNN published an article falsely claiming that 38% of Americans would not buy Corona "under any circumstances" due to its similarity in name to coronaviruses. The claim was based on a press release by 5W Public Relations, whose customers include competitors of the maker of Corona. 5WPR had done a phone poll of 737 American beer drinkers, and presented the results as related to the pandemic. However, the question responsible for the 38% statistic did not actually mention COVID-19 as a motivation, which might have instead simply indicated a preference for a different brand of beer. In ''The Atlantic'', Yascha Mounk deemed 5WPR "unscrupulous" and "shameless".

Sales increased 8.9% in the first three months of 2020, and showed year-over-year growth of 24% in the first three weeks of March 2020, as American consumers were drinking more beer and alcoholic beverages while staying at home during the emerging pandemic.

See also

* Beer in Mexico
* Cocktail garnish
* Compañía Cervecera de Puerto Rico
* Shandy

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Corona (Beer)
AB InBev brands
Beer brands of Mexico
Products introduced in 1925
Food and drink introduced in 1925