4 Takeaways from the Misleading Corona Survey

You probably saw the Tweets and articles about Americans thinking Coronavirus is linked to Corona beer thanks to 5W PR’s “study” released on Friday — the one that explicitly implicated that 38% of Americans won’t buy Corona beer because of Coronavirus. Maybe you were one of the 69 thousand people who liked CNN’s tweet on the post. Hell, it was even referenced during Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update.

Did you laugh at how stupid Americans must be? I did — and I initially retweeted the article. However, I quickly realized I was the dumb one because the survey was a crock of junk and I had fallen for it. The Corona survey turned out to be just turned out to be an irresponsible PR stunt to get media attention; authored by a large public relations firm that should’ve known better.

While the results very loosely implied some sort of correlation between not drinking Corona and Coronavirus, a closer look shows the survey should be ignored on its face.

I’ll give the agency credit for one thing — the goal was clearly to stir up talk and attention. And in that respect, the CEO and agency were successful in their endeavor. But it shouldn’t have worked for the reasons I’ll get into below.

Ariel Levy has a great Twitter thread and article about some of the problems with the survey, but let’s look at this as a case study in what public relations pros should not do.

Mistake 1

Survey Size: The agency surveyed less than 1,000 people. 737, to be exact. Most reputable surveys use larger sample sizes to reduce the margin of error and ensure a proper representation of the population. There are debates about how many people you should use for a survey, but I personally don’t like using sample sizes smaller than 1,500. It also is dependent on the type of information you’re seeking out. For example, this was meant to look at the Corona drinking habits of all Americans.

Mistake 2

Transparency: 5W wasn’t forthcoming about the exact questions they asked until pressed and even then, only provided the questions to certain outlets. Furthermore, they’re still not being transparent about the precise numbers for each response.

The press release also doesn’t include the methodology used or a link to more specifics. In fact, the whole release was a few lines of results and an irresponsible quote from the CEO.

For budding PR people and journalists, these are all red flags and at the very least should make you feel uncomfortable. The agency took advantage of the fact that many journalists are pressed to put out a lot of content that will get a lot of clicks, so they frequently don’t have time to dig deeper for quick turnarounds.

Finally, the questions (listed below) they asked are confusing at best, and it’s clear they were trying to get specific responses to align with the desired outcome of the survey. While this tactic is common in conducting surveys, 5W’s particular line of questioning is egregious.

Questions to Respondents:

• Are you a beer drinker?
• Are you a Corona drinker?
• Is Corona related to the Coronavirus?
• In light of the Coronavirus, do you plan to stop drinking Corona? (4% who “usually drink Corona” said they planned to stop.)
• Would you buy Corona in a store?
• Would you order a Corona in a restaurant/bar/public venue?
• Would you buy Corona under any circumstances now? (38% of “beer-drinking Americans” said they would not.)

Mistake 3

Lack of Planning: It appears they did not think about the potential ramifications from the decision to put out this survey. The way the headlines were written, it sounded as though Corona were the authors of the study, which is not true. In fact, Corona was surprised by the news and responded with a statement hitting back at 5W for “misinformation” regarding their brand. The firm showed a major lack of judgment targeting a brand they’re not associated with, all in the name of media attention.

It also seems like the agency failed to plan for the scrutiny that would accompany the lack of transparency surrounding the numbers they put out. Planning for potential outcomes is PR 101, especially in a situation as touchy as Coronavirus.

Mistake 4

Unethical Actions: Listen, I didn’t come into the media industry yesterday. I’ve seen first-hand the lengths many in the industry will reach to get a viral story or top-tier media coverage. But this story has me genuinely angry. The survey wasn’t clever or funny — it was lazy and tacky.

I could probably do several posts on this case, because instead of admitting there were missteps in the endeavor, the agency doubled down on their poor actions. They continued to slight Corona in the process in an email exchange with PR Week and made statements without facts to back it up. Not only was it in poor taste professionally but it could be damaging to their ability to gain new clients.

The job of a public relations firm is to put the clients first and is to demonstrate their values through their work. The Corona study showed that this agency is more concerned with its brand awareness and getting attention instead of doing what’s right. It’s a turn off to prospective clients and quality talent.

Most importantly, it’s distasteful, dishonest, and disgusting to try to cash in on a potential international pandemic while the country is scared. It’s not funny but harmful. It wastes valuable reporting time.

Do What’s Right

If you’re a communications practitioner or planning to become one, what will ultimately get you further is doing what’s right. While the survey released from 5W accomplished a truly viral moment, it wasn’t the right thing to do (and it was pretty stupid, in my opinion). A potential worldwide pandemic is a serious event, and thousands of people have died already. The CEO’s own words showed an utter lack of empathy and understanding of the global tone.

If you want to be a good PR practitioner, think about how you want to be known, what your values are, and stick to them. That will be your true key to success.