Contagion Trending on Ranker, Thanks to Coronavirus Outbreak

Photo: Warner Brothers

The stock market is in turmoil, major festivals like SXSW are being cancelled, and all our phones are being clogged with updates reporting new infections across the country. Coronavirus, or COVID-19, is rapidly spreading around the world, and it’s clearly weighing heavily on people’s minds. 

Google searches of the virus reached an all-time high during the first week of March, and shoppers are desperately pulling bottled water and hand sanitizer off the shelves. And according to Ranker data, it’s also affecting what people are choosing to watch as they attempt to quarantine themselves.

Photo: Warner Bros

Our list of The Best Movies About Disease Outbreaks experienced a similar spike in traffic in March 2020, with over one-third of visits to the list coming between March 1st and March 6th. 2011’s Contagion managed to secure the number one spot during that time, forcing longtime favorite Outbreak down to #3 behind 28 Days Later. 

Why is Contagion so relevant to the recent outbreak? When the movie was first released, it earned praise for its dedication to realism — director Steven Soderbergh and his producers apparently worked very hard to tell a realistic story, consulting with medical experts to accurately speculate what a real disaster outbreak would look like. The fact that this movie is getting more traction than more over-the-top portrayals like Outbreak, I Am Legend, or World War Z suggests that people aren’t just interested in catching impressive performances from Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon. 

And it’s not just Ranker where people are registering their interest in this movie: it was also recently trending on Amazon Video and appeared on the “Top Rentals” section of the iTunes movies store at the time this blog was published. 

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Similarly, the strength of Corona beer sales in the face of the unfortunately named coronavirus is also reflected on Ranker lists. Corona reports that, despite some reports that the brand had been hurt by rumors that the beer and virus were related, sales of the beer were unaffected by the outbreak. That report is supported by Corona’s rock-solid grasp on the number one spot in our list of The Best Beer Brands, where it’s stayed since September of last year. That being said, Corona did drop slightly in our ranking of Brands with the Best Marketing between January 20th and March 4th — from no. 72 to no. 74. 

Will new trends emerge as containment efforts develop? We’ll be sure to keep you posted right here!

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These stories are crafted using Ranker Insights, which takes over one billion votes cast on Ranker.com and converts them into actionable psychographics about pop culture fans across the world. To learn more about how our Ranker Insights can be customized to serve your business needs, visit insights.ranker.com, or email us at insights@ranker.com.