Corona announced a new packaging design that ditches plastic six-pack rings for a more eco-friendly option: stackable, interlocking cans. The design, which was created in collaboration with advertising agency Leo Burnett, earned an award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France on Monday, Mexico News daily reports.
The interlocking feature is part of a company effort to use plastic-free packaging. According to Anheuser-Busch InBev Marketing Vice President Carlos Renero, the beverage industry generates over 15 million tons of plastic each year in packaging, which threatens sea life.
(Although Corona produced for the U.S. market is owned by Constellation Brands, it is produced domestically in Mexico by Grupo Modelo, which is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev.)
Many companies have made similar forays into eco-friendly packaging, but use materials that can also create waste. Guinness moved to biodegradable cardboard in April 2019; Carlberg switched to a recyclable glue in September 2018; and in November 2018, Corona tested plant-based packaging.
The new innovation eliminates packaging completely. It redesigns the can itself, so that the bottom of each can screws into the top of another, allowing Corona drinkers to create a tower that can be stacked up to 10 cans high.
Currently, the packaging is being run as a pilot project in Mexico, but the company has plans to expand globally wherever Corona is available.
