- Zima
Infobox Beverage
name=Zima
type=Malt beverage
proof=10
manufacturer=Coors Brewing Company
origin=U.S.
introduced=1993
discontinued=
related=Smirnoff Ice
variants=Citrus, Tangerine, Pineapple CitrusZima is a lightly-carbonated
alcopop beverage made by theCoors Brewing Company . It is not a beer. Some claim incorrectly that it is an un-hoppedbeer with flavoring agents added, and has slightly morealcohol than an averageAmerican lager .Zima directly means "
winter " in Croatian, Bosnian, Polish, Czech, Macedonian, Serbian, Slovak, and Slovene and intransliteration from Bulgarian, Belarusian and Russian languages; the name is also reminiscent ofzymurgy , the science of fermentation, or brew-making. It was launched nationally in theUnited States as Zima Clearmalt in 1993 after being test-marketed two years earlier in the cities of Nashville, Sacramento, and Syracuse. The lemon-lime drink was part of the "clear craze" of the 1990s that produced products such asCrystal Pepsi andTab Clear . The slogans used in early advertisements for Zima were "a truly unique alcohol beverage" and "Zomething different," and that was certainly true in one sense—Zima was literally in a category by itself—an alcoholic beverage that wasn'tbeer (at least, not obviously), wasn'twine , and wasn't hard alcohol.Zima offered an alternative to the then-successful
wine cooler category, and it became faddishly popular. The fact that Zima was a malt-based beverage gave it an advantage over wine coolers in many American markets, since many locations in the U.S. allow beer to be sold inconvenience store s andsupermarket s, while wine-based beverages can only legally be sold inliquor store s—even if they have an alcohol content comparable to a bottle of beer. Coors spent $50 million marketing Zima in its first year, persuading nearly half of American alcohol drinkers to try it. "Brandweek Magazine" reported that at Zima's peak in1994 , 1.2 million barrels of the beverage were sold. Originally popular among young women, Coors made its first attempt at attracting young men to the brand in 1995 by marketing Zima Gold; the drink was unpopular and disappeared from store shelves within the year.Competitors to Zima in the US have included Miller's Qube and Stroh's Clash, which are no longer made today. In 2000,
Smirnoff launchedSmirnoff Ice , which today outsells Zima.Today, the beverage is marketed as ZIMA and is available in three flavors:
* ZIMA Citrus
* ZIMA Tangerine
* ZIMA Pineapple CitrusIn popular culture
In
The Simpsons episode "A Fish Called Selma ", a character said "Excuse me, I ordered a Zima, not Emphysema!" In the episodeCo-Dependent's Day , Homer Vows To Give Up all clear alcohol and Marge asks "even Zima?" and In "That 90's Show " Homer is drinking a Zima.In
Futurama episode "The Route of All Evil ", Fry complains that the metal shavings in Pabst Blue Robot make his throat bloody, to which Bender riposted, "Wah, wah, wah. Baby wants a Zima."In
MadTV , the character Rusty makes several references to Zima.In
Gilmore Girls , Luke and Lorelei celebrate their engagement by toasting in Zima.In the novel
jPod byDouglas Coupland , Zima is referenced and discussed several times. One character even suggests that "drinking Zima is something Douglas Coupland would make a character do" in order "to locate the characters in time and a specific sort of culture".In
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Storyteller",Andrew Wells says toBuffy Summers "But it tickles and I’m all tense. Can’t I have a cool refreshing Zima?" Buffy answers "No Zima!" and Spike adds "Shut your face about the Zima. Just talk."In
Drawn Together episode "A Very Special Drawn Together Afterschool Special", the cast helps gay character Xandir practice coming out of the closet to his parents by role-playing. Toots, acting as his mother calls Captain Hero, acting as his father, "Zima Dick" to which he retorts "Zima helps me relax!"External links
* [http://www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=25 Zima brand profile on brandchannel]
* [http://www.culturefreak.com/zima.html Culture Freak]
* [http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/top_ten/search/search/php/zima.phtml Late Show Top 10 Lists with "Zima"]
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