Many men avoided it as if it was bottled estrogen. In , Molson Coors discontinued the drink in the United States and the only country in the world that currently sells it is Japan. In fact, the very demographic that shunned the drink in the United States — males in their 20s — are the biggest drinkers of Zima here, according to Kayoko Okochi, a brand manager from the marketing department of Molson Coors Japan.
According to a survey done by the company, 9. For women in the same age group, it was 4. It was one of the first alcohol companies in the country to promote the drink using girls in revealing outfits. In the summer, the company released a commercial that featured brooding actor Ryuhei Matsuda sipping on the drink, and it opened a limited-edition bar in Toyosu where customers could sip on frozen Zima and admire the water-filled glass ceiling.
While the bar closed as summer ended, Okochi mentioned that the company was toying with the idea of opening a permanent location in Shibuya or another area of Tokyo. As part of Coors's marketing strategy, the company used the emerging technology of the internet to attract young and edgy consumers.
Considering that only a handful of people were online at the time and most were young members of Generation X, Coors's marketing for Zima was seen as groundbreaking. The internet "was the perfect matchup with the type of people we were going after," said a Zima brand manager.
In trying to build an online community of Zima drinkers it called Tribe Z, Coors created a website featuring bar directories, games, downloadable files including sound effects and images , collections of links to other cool websites members might like, and spaces in which members could gather to chat.
When users signed up to become part of Tribe Z, it became a way for them to get involved with the brand and other Zima lovers. Although Zima as a beverage didn't last long in the US, the methods used in its online marketing broke new ground.
Coors struggled to help Zima stay afloat for several years after its initial release in New television commercials were created featuring characters engaging in "manly" activities like football while drinking Zima. But the product's enduring reputation - which wasn't helped by the fact that Zima became a recurring punchline for David Letterman - prevented it from gaining popularity.
In , Coors tried changing its formula, introducing Zima Gold, which had a higher alcohol content and caramel coloring, and tasted more like a mixture of Coke and bourbon. Drinkers didn't go for it. It was pulled from shelves only three months later due to a lack of sales. But Coors refused to completely give up on Zima. After the failure of Zima Gold, the company tried marketing the product as an ideal way to quench thirst on hot days and reformulated it to taste like Sprite.
By , competition from Smirnoff Ice led Coors to create a more intense product called Zima XXX, which came in a variety of extreme flavors and had a higher alcohol content. Ultimately, Zima was never able to match its brief run of success.
Sales continued to dwindle for the next two years. After years of trying and failing to get men to drink Zima, Coors swallowed its pride and accepted women drinkers as Zima's primary audience.
In , the company reformulated Zima again, introducing a variety of fruity flavors. In order to better attract young women, the company lowered the alcohol content and advertised the new Zima's low calorie count.
At this point, Coors realized Zima would probably never match its early success, so it tried to build Zima as a niche product. Though this worked for a while, Zima didn't last much longer, as Coors discontinued the product in America only a year later. Nostalgia can be a powerful thing.
So it's no surprise that Zima was brought back for a limited release in the summer of It was such a hit, in fact, that MillerCoors decided to do the same thing the following year. People were picking up a six-pack to relive their '90s memories, to stock up for theme parties, or to just see what all the fuss was about. So, when it was time to decide if we were going to bring it back, we thought, "Why wouldn't we?
The success of the comeback was most likely due more to nostalgia and the limited-time exclusivity than any undying love for Zima itself. But Fernando posits another possible factor, as well:. Everyone needs to try Zima once - it is a novelty. If it's not for the crystal-clear appearance and familiar citrus taste, it's the iconic fluted bottle.
Interestingly enough, Crystal Pepsi launched a comeback of its own, returning to shelves in limited releases much like its malted cousin. While Zima may no longer be around in the US, it's responsible for many of the beer alternatives available today. Coors may not have attracted the market it wanted, but it did prove consumers have interest in non-beer malt beverages.
Other brewers noticed this open market and began creating their own malternatives, including Bacardi Silver, Mike's Hard Lemonade, and Smirnoff Ice, which, contrary to the the company's primary focus, doesn't contain any vodka. Malternatives have been largely marketed toward young, trendy people, and have gained popularity at clubs and parties - and, of course, among pranksters.
Photo: MillerCoors. Zima , like other clear alcohol beverages - vodka, gin, rum - is still detectable despite its clear profile. A malt drink is a fermented drink in which the primary ingredient is the grain, or seed, of the barley plant, which has been allowed to sprout slightly in a traditional way called "malting" before it is processed.
A low alcohol level drink brewed in this fashion is technically identical to "non-alcoholic beer". Smirnoff Ice , the citrus-flavored malt beverage first popularized in the United States in the early s, isn't the sort of alcoholic beverage people brag about keeping in their fridge. Nor, one would think, should be drinking Smirnoff Ice anymore.
And yet, surprisingly, people around the world still do. In the American vernacular, a forty- ounce or simply forty is a glass or plastic bottle that holds 40 fluid ounces 1. When American suburban youth adopted the habit of drinking malt liquor, drug counselors began to refer to "40s" as "liquid crack" and "date-rape brew".
Can you still buy Zima? Category: food and drink non alcoholic beverages. Zima is still sold and marketed in Japan. Is Zima coming back ? What does Zima taste like? Is white claw the same as Zima? What does Zima stand for?
0コメント