The archive · PR & Stunts · Strategic decision · 2025
Corona buys beach airspace for the world's first Sun Reserve — Cannes PR Gold 2025
On its 100th anniversary, Corona secured a Brazilian beachfront lot's airspace for three renewable years so buildings can never block the sun again.
Corona (AB InBev)
What it had to solve
For its 100th anniversary in 2025, Corona — a brand built on sun and outdoor life — faced a problem it cared about: coastal construction exploiting legal loopholes was putting public beaches in shadow, like Piedade in Brazil, where buildings grew 200% in five years.
How it works
In 2025 Corona turned 100 years old, and the brand built on 'life outside' had a problem to match: along coastlines worldwide, tall buildings were pushing public beaches into shadow, often through loopholes in height regulations. At Piedade beach in Brazil, the number of buildings had grown 200% in five years, and the loss of sunlight was already driving sunbathers away in places from Hawaii to Australia.
Grey Brazil and Corona's legal team found an overlooked real-estate law and used it to take possession of the construction airspace above a beachfront lot at Piedade for three renewable years — legally prohibiting anything there from blocking the sun. They called the result the world's first Sun Reserve, a new category of preservation area in the spirit of forest and marine reserves.
The idea travelled further than the plot of land. Two days after launch, the mayor of Fortaleza suspended construction of tall buildings on the shoreline, the tourism secretary of Jaboatão dos Guararapes publicly backed the reserve, Google Analytics showed searches for shadowed beaches rising more than 100% during the campaign, and the reserve was listed in Google Maps and TripAdvisor.
Why it lands
- Corona's brand promise is sun and time outdoors, so protecting sunlight is not a random stunt — it extends the brand's own meaning.
- Using a real legal mechanism made the campaign concrete rather than symbolic; the brand actually owns the airspace it claims to protect.
- The idea created a new category — a 'sun reserve' — that journalists, officials and even map platforms could adopt and repeat.
- Local action scaled into global conversation: one small plot became proof that the model could be copied in South Africa, Colombia and beyond.
What it did
Won a Gold PR Lion and a Silver Lion at Cannes 2025. Two days after launch, the mayor of Fortaleza suspended tall shoreline construction; the tourism secretary of Jaboatão dos Guararapes backed the reserve, searches for shadowed beaches rose over 100%, and more reserves were negotiated in South Africa and Colombia.
What you can take
When a brand owns a truth, make it a legal act: a loophole that harms nature becomes a mechanism that protects it, creating an ownable category of preservation no one can dismiss as talk.
Since then
The Sun Reserve was secured for three renewable years, and Corona aimed to have two reserves implemented by the end of 2025, with more under negotiation for 2026 in South Africa and Colombia. The campaign collected a Gold PR Lion and a Silver Lion at Cannes 2025, an Out of Home for Good entry at The One Show 2026, and coverage from the Financial Times and Fast Company, giving Corona a 'place in the sun' platform it could keep building on.
Sources
- Sun Reserve
- The Weber Shandwick Collective roars at 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
- CORONA AMBEV | SUN RESERVE
- Corona achète un terrain près de la plage pour créer une « réserve de soleil »
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