Parse this sentence carefully: "A surprising 38 percent of beer drinkers insisted that they would not, under any circumstances, buy Corona as the deadly virus spreads across the globe, according to the survey conducted by 5W Public Relations."
I attest that I would not, under any circumstances, buy Corona beer in the US. And, since I have just said that right now, it turns out that I would not buy Corona "as the deadly virus spreads".
My not wanting to buy Corona has nothing to do with the spread of COVID19, and all to do with the fact that the same money could pay for a beer that I actually enjoy drinking.
As the Atlantic has said: "The strange virality of the Corona poll demonstrates that there are ruthless PR flacks who are willing to play fast and loose with the truth. It also shows that there are many journalists at supposedly trustworthy news outlets who are so desperate to rush to publication that they can wind up misinforming their public. (What else is new?)
The real question is why this obscure poll would, even if it had been true, be able to capture the imagination of so many people. And the answer is as obvious as it is saddening: Clearly, a lot of Americans already think that their fellow citizens are stupid. The real reason a fake finding could have spread so far so quickly is that it confirmed prejudices about the world that many have held all along."
Y'know, I think you're right. I did notice it wasn't very solid, but just figured it was over-hyped, not entirely wrong. I suppose the better number would be if Corona's sales were down.
I believe that a percentage of my fellow-citizens are stupid, yes. But probably not so many as claimed in the study.
Assuming an even distribution of beer-drinkers, then, their sales should be down 4%, offset by some of the people showing off how brave or noble they are, and minus the small percentage of folks who are unconsciously affected in their decisionmaking. We have no way of knowing any of those numbers, but assuming it's all just a slight decline is reasonable.
Unknown originally convinced me, and I didn't pick up any Corona when I went out after all. But seeing that only a few six-packs will put them over the top, and I can put it with my prepper storage for the beauty of the irony if by some low chance I actually have to use it, I will get some anyway.
My friend who was a VP at Anheuser-Busch tells me that they removed beer from stores after 90 days in terms of going slightly off, so that may be a good time frame. BTW, if you ever had one of those high-school or college conversations about a "bad batch" of beer when it didn't taste right and we called it skunked, the most likely explanation is that you bought it at a low-turnover store and it was old, not originally made wrong.
AAAURGH!!!! I HATE this.
ReplyDeleteParse this sentence carefully: "A surprising 38 percent of beer drinkers insisted that they would not, under any circumstances, buy Corona as the deadly virus spreads across the globe, according to the survey conducted by 5W Public Relations."
I attest that I would not, under any circumstances, buy Corona beer in the US. And, since I have just said that right now, it turns out that I would not buy Corona "as the deadly virus spreads".
My not wanting to buy Corona has nothing to do with the spread of COVID19, and all to do with the fact that the same money could pay for a beer that I actually enjoy drinking.
As the Atlantic has said:
"The strange virality of the Corona poll demonstrates that there are ruthless PR flacks who are willing to play fast and loose with the truth. It also shows that there are many journalists at supposedly trustworthy news outlets who are so desperate to rush to publication that they can wind up misinforming their public. (What else is new?)
The real question is why this obscure poll would, even if it had been true, be able to capture the imagination of so many people. And the answer is as obvious as it is saddening: Clearly, a lot of Americans already think that their fellow citizens are stupid. The real reason a fake finding could have spread so far so quickly is that it confirmed prejudices about the world that many have held all along."
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/about-corona-poll/607240/
Y'know, I think you're right. I did notice it wasn't very solid, but just figured it was over-hyped, not entirely wrong. I suppose the better number would be if Corona's sales were down.
ReplyDeleteI believe that a percentage of my fellow-citizens are stupid, yes. But probably not so many as claimed in the study.
Personally, I fear the COORS virus. But I'll be fine; I don't drink beer. Gave it up some years ago.
ReplyDeleteAVI, I've seen a couple of places that the actual percentage that link the beer and the virus is about 4 which seems reasonable.
ReplyDeleteAssuming an even distribution of beer-drinkers, then, their sales should be down 4%, offset by some of the people showing off how brave or noble they are, and minus the small percentage of folks who are unconsciously affected in their decisionmaking. We have no way of knowing any of those numbers, but assuming it's all just a slight decline is reasonable.
ReplyDeleteUnknown originally convinced me, and I didn't pick up any Corona when I went out after all. But seeing that only a few six-packs will put them over the top, and I can put it with my prepper storage for the beauty of the irony if by some low chance I actually have to use it, I will get some anyway.
My friend who was a VP at Anheuser-Busch tells me that they removed beer from stores after 90 days in terms of going slightly off, so that may be a good time frame. BTW, if you ever had one of those high-school or college conversations about a "bad batch" of beer when it didn't taste right and we called it skunked, the most likely explanation is that you bought it at a low-turnover store and it was old, not originally made wrong.
On the flip side, Corona is getting lots of free publicity -- case in point, their possible new customer AVI.
ReplyDelete