The Plastic Fishing Tournament has been launched in partnership with environmental organisation MazConCiencia and creative agency, We Believers. Mexican Fishermen were encouraged to catch as many plastic containers as possible, which led to approximately 2.9 tonnes of plastic being removed from the channel between Uráis estuary and Stone Island around Mazatlán, Sinaloa.

The winner of the tournament earned $14,800 pesos for collecting 370kg of plastic, the equivalent to a month of averages wages in the area. Corona then connected the other competing fishermen with the country’s largest recycling company, Mexico Recicla, which paid them the same per kg of plastic, as they would have received for fish.

Mexico Recicla then upcycled the plastic waste and turned it into fishing tools such as nets. This initiative is an ideal partnership for Corona as it focuses on the country in which the product originates and ensures the global brand gives back to its local community.

Gustavo Lauria, co-founder of We Believers, says, “Especially in Mexico, the combination of plastic pollution in the oceans and overfishing directly affect small local fishing communities. When fishermen turn to the ocean, they find way more plastic than fish, and the fish they catch are way smaller than those they captured a decade ago. That’s how we connected the dots to encourage them to collect plastic instead of fish, creating a new source of income for their communities.”

This campaign works of multiple levels, to support the local community of fisherman by providing a source of extra income, bettering the environment by clearing the oceans and beaches of plastic and by sharing the story via video to encourage consumers to reduce their plastic waste.

The video focuses on the fisherman as they describe the vast amount of plastic waste in their oceans and impact it has on their work. The interview and voice over clips cut between facts such as, ‘Every year in Mexico, more than 750 million plastic containers end up in the sea.’

The video switches to an upbeat tone as it shows the Corona Plastic Fishing Tournament as a successful and impactful even. This works to boost positive consumer awareness of the brand and improve its reputation as a supporter of the environment and its local community.

Corona has announced it will look to continue the tournament in other communities through the rest of the year and 2022.