TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A new study found people may be skeptical of Corona beer because it shares part of its name with the virus making people ill across the world.

5W Public Relations, an independently-owned PR agency, conducted a phone survey of 737 U.S. residents who considered themselves beer drinkers this week.

The survey revealed 38 percent of beer-drinking Americans would not buy Corona under any circumstances now. Among those who said they usually drink Corona, only 4 percent said they would stop drinking Corona. Fourteen percent said they wouldn’t order Corona in a public venue.

Meanwhile, 16 percent of beer-drinking Americans were confused about whether Corona beer is related to the coronavirus. We’ll save you some time: it’s not.

The beer brand, which is the third most popular beer in the United States gets its name from the sun’s corona. But according to 5WPR, the trends data provider SEMrush shows there has been a consistent uptick in searches for “corona beer virus” and “beer coronavirus” over the past few weeks.

“While the brand has claimed that consumers understand there’s no linkage between the virus and the beer company, this is a disaster for the Corona brand,” 5WPR Founder and CEO Ronn Torossian said. “After all, what brand wants to be linked to a virus which is killing people worldwide?”

The beer brand’s purchase intent among American adults has dipped to the lowest in two years, according to data from YouGov.

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