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Corona (beer)

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"Corona and Lime" redirects here. For the song by Shwayze, see Corona and Lime (song).

Corona Extra
TypeBeer
ManufacturerConstellation Brands[1][2] AB InBev
Country of origin Mexico
Introduced1925; 99 years ago (1925)[3]
Alcohol by volume 4.5%[4]
StylePale lager
Websitecorona.com

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-brazilian 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.[5] It is often served with a wedge of lime or lemon in the neck of the bottle to add tartness and flavor.[6] 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,[7] and Corona Extra has been the top-selling imported drink in the U.S. since 1998.[8][9] 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.[10]

History

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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.[11][12]

Ingredients

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A truck in Mexico decorated with the Corona brand name

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.[13]

Packaging

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The label and logo of Corona was designed by Eduardo Cataño working under the advertising company Galas de México for Grupo Modelo brewery, around 1935.[14]

Corona beer is available in a variety of bottle presentations, ranging from the 207 ml (7.0 U.S. fl oz; 7.3 imp fl oz) ampolleta (labeled Coronita and just referred as the cuartito) up to the 940 ml (31.8 U.S. fl oz; 33.1 imp fl oz) Corona Familiar (known as the familiar, Litro or Mega). A draught version also exists, as does canned Corona in some markets.[citation needed]

Since the 80s, Corona had been branded as Coronita (literally, 'little crown') in Spain, as winemaker Bodegas Torres had owned the trademark for "Coronas" since 1907.[15] The packaging was otherwise the same in Spain as in Mexico and the United States. AB InBev resolved[16] 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, 210 mL (7.4 imp fl oz) bottles of the beer are also branded as "Coronita".[citation needed]

Sponsorship partners

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Corona 6-pack, showing a 33-cl = 330 ml (11.2 U.S. fl oz; 11.6 imp fl oz) bottle and carton that is marked 6 × 0.33 L (partially visible). This bottle features eight languages for export to the Common Market.

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.[17] 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,[citation needed] 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.[18]

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.[19] Corona has sponsored the Mexico national football team since 2003, and has signed a contract to do so until 2026.[when?][20]

Corona and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) had a 5½–year sponsorship in which Corona was the ATP's premier worldwide sponsor.[when?][21] Corona was also the title sponsor of the SBK Superbike World Championship from 1998 until 2007.[citation needed]

Advertising

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Corona refers to itself as "La cerveza más fina."[citation needed]

Corona bottle with a lime slice

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.[citation needed]

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.[22]

Use in cocktails

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Some bars and restaurants serve a "Coronarita", a beer cocktail that consists of a bottle of Corona upturned to drain into a margarita.[23][failed verification][24]

COVID-19 pandemic

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Member of Polish band Kult with a parodistic T-shirt using the company logo ("Corona Virus") in 2022

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,[25][26] whose customers include competitors of the maker of Corona.[27] 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.[25][26] In The Atlantic, Yascha Mounk deemed 5WPR "unscrupulous" and "shameless".[26]

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.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Staff, M. N. D. (17 April 2023). "Constellation Brands to invest over US $1B in Mexico brewery facilities". Mexico News Daily. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  2. ^ "What it takes to get a Corona from Mexico to a U.S. heartland bar". Reuters. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Corona" (PDF). ab-inbev.
  4. ^ "Corona Extra". Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Heineken to take over Mexican beer brands in U.S." USA Today. 21 June 2004. Archived from the original on 20 February 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2008. Modelo's Corona brand has been the top-selling import beer in the United States for years and is the seventh-best selling brand there overall.
  6. ^ Mikkelson, David (18 May 2010). "Corona Lime Wedge". Snopes. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  7. ^ Vasen, Debbie (1 December 2011). "Best Beers". LoveToKnow Best. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  8. ^ Hendriks, Alexandra (2015) [2002]. "Beverages, Alcoholic". In McDonough, John; Egolf, Karen (eds.). The Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising. Routledge. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-135-94906-8.
  9. ^ Luhnow, David; Kesmodel, David (17 July 2008). "Pressure Is on Mexican Brewers". The Wall Street Journal. p. B2. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  10. ^ a b Valinsky, Jordan (3 April 2020). "Corona beer stops production". CNN. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Corona". ABInBev. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  12. ^ "What Type of Beer is Corona?". Foodie. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Corona Extra" (in Finnish). Sinebrychoff. Archived from the original on 11 May 2016.
  14. ^ Mexican Calendars. Museo Soumaya Fundación Carlos Slim. 2014. ISBN 9786077805083.
  15. ^ "Our history". Familia Torres. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  16. ^ "La cerveza Coronita pasará a llamarse Corona en España este mes de junio". El Confidencial. 8 January 2016.
  17. ^ Ochoa, Raúl (6 June 2015). "Desastre en el box mexicano por el retiro de Grupo Modelo". Proceso (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  18. ^ Kerno, Steven J. Jr. (2015). "NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)". In Wherry, Frederick F.; Schor, Juliet (eds.). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Economics and Society. SAGE Publications. p. 1147. ISBN 978-1-4522-2643-9.
  19. ^ Montesinos, Débora (28 March 2017). "What Brands are Sponsoring Mexican Soccer (in Mexico)?". Portada. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  20. ^ "Corona renueva patrocinio con la Selección Nacional de México hasta 2026". Azteca Deportes (in Spanish). 15 September 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  21. ^ "ATP, Corona Extra sign sponsorship agreement". ESPN.com. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  22. ^ Schuster, Blake (30 November 2023). "5 facts you didn't know about Corona's palm tree Christmas commercial that airs every year". For The Win. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  23. ^ "Drink Menu". Chili's. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  24. ^ "Drinks". Dave & Buster's. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  25. ^ a b Mikkelson, David (2 March 2020). "Did Corona Beer Sales Drop Sharply Due to Fear About the Coronavirus?". Snopes. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  26. ^ a b c Mounk, Yascha (28 February 2020). "What the Dubious Corona Poll Reveals". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  27. ^ "L'effet Corona : comment les marques peuvent lutter contre les fake news | Viuz". viuz.com (in French). 7 March 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
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