In late February, rumors circulated that sales of Corona Beer are down because of association with the coronavirus. The chief economist of the Brewers Association in the U.S., Bart Watson (whom we interviewed in JBT31), decided to look up the data, which he has access to. On February 28th, he wrote, “Corona sales over the past four weeks are up 3.1% by volume (vs. a year ago). Up 2.7% (from) the year before that. So no effect. Carry on.” In the two weeks since then, perhaps the numbers have fallen due to a broader downturn in consumer spending, but the rumors of Corona being hurt by the virus specifically because of name association appeared to be untrue.