Fox & CNN Report on Poll Claiming Coronavirus a ‘Disaster’ for Corona Beer — Conducted By PR Firm Repping Beverage Co.’s

A poll this week ripping Corona beer amidst growing concern around the coronavirus was reported by CNN and Fox News Friday morning, but its complete results tell a different story.

The survey conducted by 5W Public Relations claim that 38% of beer-drinking Americans will not buy Corona beer “under any circumstances now.”

The claim comes after the DOW has plummeted for the fifth-straight day with concerns around the Coronavirus being at the forefront. Constellation Brands, which owns Corona Beer, has dropped over 16%.

But among regular Corona drinkers, only 4% said they would stop drinking the brand. And 5W Public Relations, which conducted the poll, represents four beverage companies, including two alcohol companies — Santa Margherita, Purity Vodka, ZICO Coconut Water and Sparkling ICE by Talking Rain.

The company did not publish the questions as asked, or detailed methodological data.

In a story published Friday morning entitled, “The spread of the coronavirus couldn’t have come at a worse time for Corona beer,” CNN reported on the 5W survey, but also cited a survey conducted by YouGov that found consumers’ intent to purchase Corona fell to its lowest level in two years.

YouGov’s study tells a more realistic story about Corona beer numbers — that their number have dropped, along with the company’s stock price. It doesn’t suggest that over a third of Americans are alarmists, afraid to drink Corona beer at the height of the Coronavirus. Assuming that many Americans believe a link between the virus and the beer is misleading. If any American did believe a connection between the two, they could quickly learn how wrong they are with a couple of clicks.

On Fox News, an extended version of the 5W Public Relations poll, which was first reported by USA Today, appeared on-air. Fox News’ Katherine Timpf cited a statistic from the poll that 14% don’t want to order a Corona beer in public and said, “That I understand because then you have to deal with some bartender who’s a wannabe comedian.”

When a graphic showed that 16% of beer drinkers were unsure if the virus is related to Corona beer, Timpf said she understood why Americans could think that. She recalled a moment on a plane where a woman assumed ISIS was a sickness, not a terrorist group.

“We live in a society where people will see a headline pop up on their phone, they won’t click and read it, and it doesn’t surprise me.”

What is surprising is that news networks actually talked about the poll in the first place.

Watch the clip above, via Fox News.