As the coronavirus goes global, Corona Hard Seltzer releases new ad about the beverage 'coming ashore soon'

• The makers of Corona beer are receiving flak over a new Corona Hard Seltzer ad released in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.
• The ad, posted on Twitter Monday, says the line of seltzers is "coming ashore soon."
• Many commenters questioned the timing of the ad, with the coronavirus beginning to spread globally.
• There's no connection between the coronavirus and the popular beer with a similar name, but that hasn't stopped people from getting the two confused.
• YouGov released a poll this week that showed that the brand's selling power was falling.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As the coronavirus outbreak's spread outside of China worsened this week, the makers of Corona beer released an awkward ad about a line of hard seltzers "coming ashore soon."

Negative comments quickly started flowing in on the brand's Twitter page, calling the ad "in extremely poor taste" and imploring the company to "do better."

"Shame on you for exploiting a real global health crisis. Next time we buy beer, it will NOT be Corona," a Twitter user named Diana wrote.

When reached for comment about the ad, Constellation Brands spokesperson Maggie Bowman told Business Insider that the message in the advertising campaign has worked in the past.

"Our advertising with Corona is consistent with the campaign we have been running for the last 30 years and is based off strong consumer sentiment," she said. "While we empathize with those who have been impacted by this virus and continue to monitor the situation, our consumers, by and large, understand there's no linkage between the virus and our business."

There's no connection between Corona and the coronavirus that has infected more than 80,000 people, mostly in China. But that hasn't stopped people from growing suspicious of the beer.

As China started implementing quarantines in an attempt to contain the outbreak in January, online searches for "corona beer virus," "beer virus," and "beer coronavirus" started trending around the world.

Coronavirus gets its name from the crown-like spikes that the virus has, which can be seen under a microscope. "Corona" is the Latin word for crown.

Despite Constellation Brands' confidence that the virus won't impact brand loyalty, recent reports show that all publicity may not be good publicity for Corona.

But recent reports show that all publicity may not be good publicity for the brand.

On Wednesday, YouGov released the results of a poll which showed that Corona's Buzz score - "a net score based on whether US adults have heard anything negative or positive about the brand" - recently fell from a high of 75 at the beginning of January to a low of 51. Purchase intent is also at a two-year low, but YouGov journalist Graeme Bruce points out that this may have to do with Corona being considered a "summer-y beverage."

Bloomberg reports that shares for Constellation Brands have fallen 8% in the past week.

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