Zima
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about a beverage. For a town in Russia, see Zima (town).
| Zima | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Malt beverage |
| Proof | 10 per 12oz bottle |
| Manufacturer | Coors Brewing Company |
| Country of Origin | USA |
| Introduced | 1994 |
| Variants | Black cherry, Orange, Punch, Lemon-Lime |
| Related products | Smirnoff Ice |
Zima is a lightly-carbonated alcopop beverage made by the Coors Brewing Company. It is an un-hopped beer with flavoring agents added, and has slightly more alcohol than an average American lager.
Zima directly means "winter" in both Polish and Czech and in transliteration from Russian; the name is also reminiscent of "zymurgy", the science of fermentation, or brew-making. It was launched nationally in the United States as Zima Clearmalt in 1994 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 as Crystal Pepsi and Clear Tab. The slogan used in early advertisements for Zima was "a truly unique alcohol beverage," and that was certainly true in one sense — Zima was literally in a category by itself — an alcoholic beverage that wasn't beer (at least, not obviously), wasn't wine and wasn't hard alcohol.
Zima offered an alternative to the then-successful wine cooler category, and 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 in convenience stores and supermarkets, while wine-based beverages can only legally be sold in liquor stores — 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 in 1994, 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 been largely unsuccessful. Miller's Qube and Stroh's Clash are no longer made today. In 2000, Smirnoff launched Smirnoff Ice, which today outsells Zima.
Today, the beverage is marketed as Zima XXX and is available in four flavors:
- Hard Black Cherry
- Hard Lemon Lime
- Hard Orange
- Hard Punch
[edit] In pop culture
Zima has been the butt of many jokes and been featured in five Top 10 Lists on Late Show with David Letterman, including "Top Ten Signs Bush Is Drinking Again" ("6. Appointed Michael Brown head of Zima").
During a Weekend Update segment of Saturday Night Live, Kevin Nealon tried some Zima and said that it "tastes like zhit". Another skit featured a married man attempting to seduce a babysitter with Zima on her ride home. In a Mary Katherine Gallagher skit, Mark McKinney dressed up as a teenage girl hosting a party and offered friends some Zima.
Zima appeared in the 1996 The Simpsons episode "A Fish Called Selma." When Selma lit a cigarette at a trendy restaurant a man responded, "Excuse me, I ordered a Zima, not emphysema". Zima also was mentioned in the 2004 episode "Co-Dependent's Day." When Homer vowed to abstain from all clear liquors, Marge asked, "Even Zima?" Homer replied, "I only drink that when I'm already drunk."
A subtle gag occurred in the TV series Babylon 5, where a sign for the beverage appeared in a bar, indicating it was still being made in the year 2258. Series creator J. Michael Straczynski claimed it was not a product placement but an in-joke played by the production crew.
The MadTV character Rusty Miller frequently offered Zima to the celebrity guests of his public access show.
In an episode of Friends, Joey, anticipating that a bunch of "museum geeks" will attend Ross' bachelor party, made plans to buy Zima.
In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Storyteller", there was a comically blatant plug for Zima in which a ex-supervillain asked Buffy, "Can't I have a cool, refreshing Zima?"
In the show "Gilmore Girls", episode "The New and Improved Lorelai", Luke and Lorelai get engaged, and decide they want to toast. So, they go to Doose's market, and all Taylor has is Zima which Luke responds "But men aren't supposed to drink Zima."
The Douglas Coupland novel Jpod included a character who is a loyal Zima drinker.
In the story "Your mother and I" in How We Are Hungry, Dave Eggers's collection of short stories, the mother character gets tipsy when a bar has a Zima special.
The beverage plays a role in the short story "Eating, Ohio" by Imad Rahman, in which a hard-luck Pakistani actor portrays Zima Zorro in bar promotions, getting into a fight with a Red Bull Matador.
In the 2006 hollywood movie "Beerfest", German characters make fun of US characters and how they can only drink Zima.
In an episode of "Futurama", the main character Fry protests when the robotic character Bender wants to buy a fictional beer called Pabst Blue Robot that contains metal shavings. Bender scoffs and says, "Wahhh, baby wants a Zima."
When Karen in the short running show "MB", stated that she "Wanted a Zima" and a "PM Powder", only to combine then to say "Zima PM Powder".
