Dan Antion

The Power of Beer – #WATWB

If you follow my Saturday series, you may have heard me mention Corona Beer. I have come to prefer Corona over other lagers, and now I have a new reason to support the brand – the Corona “Losing Blue” can.

Corona is brewed in and imported from Mexico. Mexico is a country whose economy depends heavily on tourism. Most of the tourists going to Mexico are going for the beaches, and the beaches in Mexico have become covered with trash. The brewers of Corona decided to show just how trash-laden the beaches are, by reducing the amount of blue on the Corona can.

You may not know it, but the Corona can is a beach sunset. The bottom is blue (ocean) the center is gold (sun) and the top is blue and white (sky). This is no simple paint job, this is the Corona brand which, until recently, hadn’t changed in over 100 years!

Corona worked with marine biologists to determine the level of (primarily) plastic trash on 10 of the most popular beaches. Then they reduced the amount of “ocean” depicted on their cans that were being distributed in those areas. According to Corona, the ad program worked:

“Our cans made people stop and think at the moment of consumption. By dramatizing a national issue in a personal way, we sparked a national conversation and spurred Mexicans into action, resulting in 30% more people volunteering in beach clean-ups across the country.”

That’s a pretty good result.

The article in “Ads of the World” is over here, but most of the information is on the graphic at the bottom (borrowed from that page).

I like this story for a lot of reasons. First, it motivated people to take action. Second, it’s an example of a company taking a risk with one of their most important assets (brand) for a broader social-environmental reason. Third, the act of gathering data and helping people to visualize the meaning of that data appeals to the nerdy information professional side of me. Fourth, it gives me another reason to like my favorite beer.

The “We are the World” Blogfest is now in its third year. This blogfest’s goal is to spread the message of light, hope and love in today’s world. We are challenging all participants to share the positive side of humanity. This month’s co-hosts: Shilpa Garg, Mary Giese, Simon Falk , Damyanti Biswas, and myself, welcome participants and encourage all to join in during future months. #WATWB is a blog hop on the last Friday of every month. Click HERE to be part of this fun and remarkable blogfest.

Corona’s Losing Blue

61 comments

  1. Hi Dan – what an interesting idea and good for them to remind people of the impact trash makes on the environment … loved the idea about the 10 beaches with an appropriate amount of blue applicable to each particular beach. Interesting … and I didn’t know Mexico made the beer … and now they’re doing more to clean up their beaches … cheers Hilary

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks Hilary. It’s funny how you can buy a product for many years and not know much about it. Most of this was new to me, but I thought it was a good idea.

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  2. I’m not much of a beer drinker, but when I do, Corona is one of my go-tos. However I always see it in a glass bottle so I didn’t know what the cans looked like. I agree with you that this was a brave move on Corona’s part.

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    • Thanks Joanne. I almost never see it in a can, except when I’m near a beach. I guess they don’t want glass there. I’m glad this idea worked. I love it when companies step up and take a risk for the greater good.

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  3. Good for them. When you think environmentally conscious you don’t immediately think Mexico… but at least they’re trying.
    And no, I didn’t know about the ocean, sun, sky on the can. Thanks for that tidbit!

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    • I didn’t know about the cans representing a beach either. I think it’s a good effort, especially since most of the trash they are removing from the beach isn’t coming from Mexico, it’s just washing up there.

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    • I would support that GP, I do like draft beer. This is one of those very tricky subjects. People are waging all out war against plastic today, but many don’t know or don’t remember what we had before.

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  6. Good for Corona! It is a very good thing that they do, to bring awareness to the trash on the beaches.

    That being said, I never understood how people can simply thrown something to the ground rather than put it in a trash receptacle. It’s like this all over the world and I wonder what the thought is here? Or maybe no thought, just laziness? Whatever the case, the more that companies like Corona can help keep people mindful of the resulting affect to our land, the better we will be. Thanks for this story, Dan, and participating in another month of #WATWB.

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    • Thanks Mary. I had several drafts of this post that started with a variation of the fact that I just don’t get litter. I thought we solved that problem in the 60s. Apparently not. There are theories as to where this trash is coming from (most likely not Mexico) but there’s no agreement on how to stop it.

      So, while politicians wrestle with the big picture, Corona realized that “we need to clean up the beach.” I’m sure they are worried about beach tourism and beer sales, but I like to think there’s a little more to it. I’ll take it either way. If companies realize that a cleaner environment improves profits – that works for me.

      Thanks for co-hosting and supporting #WATWB and I hope you have a great weekend – Remember, put litter in its place. ;-)

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  7. Nothing like a Corona with a piece of lime on a hot day. I’ve been known to have one or…..
    I like what their company have done here, Dan, and that you have shared it with WATWB. Thanks so much. Oh… and cheers!

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  8. Nice to see a company go out on a limb to help clean up the environment. Sure, they’re thinking of their sales too, but so what? Win/win.

    I have never understood the mindset of people who litter. To this day, if I have a tissue or candy wrapper, whatever, that I need to dispose of and there’s no trash receptacle available, it goes in my pocket/purse until I get home.

    Cheers to Corona!
    🐾Ginger 🐾

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    • I’m with you on that, Ginger. I see people flick stuff out of their cars and I just shake my head. They can’t wait until they get home to put that in the trash?

      I know Corona’s sales depends on those beaches being packed with tourists, but this was still a big move for them.

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  11. As a former beach dweller, measuring success in terms of the number of volunteers who turn up to clean the beach is one thing. Better to measure the amount of trash dumped in the first place. If the public acted responsibility there would be no need for clean-ups. The Mexican beaches are a concern, but Americans have to understand that the mess from those beaches ends up on our shores as well. I have pretty much given up on human beings ability to police their actions. For whatever reason, beach visitors think nothing of throwing down every kind of trash imaginable. Couple that with the trash that is already in the Gulf and our oceans, leads me to believe we have reached the point where I’m not sure the damage is reversible. Sure there are folks like Corona trying to do something but the public at large simply believes in the right to violate the environment. There have been anti-litter TV, radio, and print ads for the last 60 years and still, the public refuses to police itself. Thanks for recognizing the effort of Corona, Dan.

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  14. OK, that’s definitely cool and a creative way to work on the problem. I’ll still be drinking dark beer, but as I recycle my bottles (or cans) regardless of color, I won’t feel bad. :-)

    Cheers!

    janet, whose go-to beer now is Three Sheeps Brewing’s Cashmere Hammer
    Gotta love that name and it’s as smooth as cashmere.

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  18. I love it when corporations take responsibility to help solve problems instead of ignoring (or worse, contributing to) them. I am not a Corona drinker, but we bought it for our last party along with some other beers. Corona was the first to be used up.

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  21. Are those marine biologists looking at our beaches too? Are they addressing the Great Lakes? Plastic is often hard to spot so what we see on the internet and in brochures can be deceiving.

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  22. Very cool, indeed. I wondered why the can had changed appearance, now I know. I haven’t had a Corona, other than the one I share virtually with you on Saturdays, but now I might just have to buy one to support the cause! Cheers!

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  23. A courageous step, risking the brand ID. Still, in the end it will likely pay off for them. I can’t say I drink much Corona (or beer generally anymore) but when I do it’s in a bottle. The world’s oceans are repository for much trash–at the moment, changing human behavior is a challenge. Anything that will help people do right rather than wrong is a good thing.

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