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Beverages

Zima

A clear, citrus malt beverage that rode the early-90s "clear craze" to a huge 1994 debut, then collapsed as the taste disappointed and an unmasculine, joke-brand image took hold.

Product discontinuation Discontinued Moderate
Company
Coors Brewing Company
Started
1994
Ended
2008
Peak US sales (1994)
~1.2-1.3 million barrels
Collapse speed
Gradual
Preventability
Medium
Lesson transfer
Industry-wide
Last reviewed
2026-08-21

Narrative

The story

The ambition

Coors bet on the same "clear craze" that briefly made Crystal Pepsi and Tab Clear look like the future of packaged goods. Zima, a clear, lightly citrus-flavored malt beverage, was pitched as a beer alternative: transparent, modern, and different enough to earn its own shelf space next to the beer cooler.

The rise

Coors tested Zima in Nashville, Sacramento, and Syracuse in 1993, then took it national in 1994 behind a marketing campaign in the tens of millions of dollars and the tagline "Zomething different." The bet paid off in trial. About seven in ten American beer and liquor drinkers tried Zima that year, and sales reached roughly 1.2 to 1.3 million barrels, an extraordinary debut for a new beverage category.

The cracks

Trial did not become loyalty. Once the novelty wore off, drinkers who tried Zima described the taste in unflattering terms, comparisons ran from flat soda to tonic water and antifreeze, and repeat purchases never matched the initial rush. At the same time, Coors had aimed Zima at men as a beer alternative, but it was young women who embraced it. That gender mismatch turned into a liability once Zima acquired a reputation as an unmasculine "girly drink," an image late-night host David Letterman reinforced with running jokes and Top Ten List bits that made the brand a national punchline.

The collapse

Sales fell hard from their 1994 peak, down to roughly 403,000 barrels by 1996. Coors tried to win back men with Zima Gold, an amber variant launched in 1995, but it failed within about a year. Through the late 1990s and 2000s Zima kept shrinking into a regional, novelty-tier product as newer flavored malt beverages, Smirnoff Ice chief among them after its 1999 launch, took the market Coors had originally wanted for Zima.

The aftermath

A 2007 California tax increase on flavored malt beverages added cost pressure in one of Zima's largest remaining markets, and MillerCoors ended US production in October 2008, by which point Zima held only a sliver of the malt beverage market. The name did not disappear. Limited nostalgia-driven US releases in 2017 and 2018 sold out quickly, and the brand continued for years in Japan under a separate distribution history.

The lessons

A marketing blitz can manufacture trial, but it cannot manufacture demand. Zima proved that once, spectacularly, when curiosity emptied shelves and then nothing brought drinkers back. It also shows how fragile a brand's positioning can be. Coors built Zima for one audience, another audience showed up instead, and the company never found a way to make that shift work rather than fight it.

Causal timeline

Failure Anatomy

  1. 1994

    Test markets, then a national "Zomething different" launch

    After 1993 test markets in Nashville, Sacramento, and Syracuse, Coors took Zima national in 1994 behind a marketing campaign in the tens of millions of dollars, and about 70 percent of US beer and liquor drinkers tried it. [1]

    No real demand
  2. 1994

    Trial peaks, taste disappoints

    US sales reached roughly 1.2 to 1.3 million barrels in 1994, but drinkers who tried Zima found the taste unappealing, comparing it to flat soda, tonic water, and antifreeze. [1] [2]

    No real demandPoor execution
  3. 1994

    The "girly drink" backlash takes hold

    Zima's core audience turned out to be young women rather than the male beer drinkers Coors had targeted, and David Letterman's repeated on-air mockery cemented its image as an unmasculine punchline. [3] [4]

    Poor execution
  4. 1995-1996

    Sales collapse and a failed relaunch

    Sales fell to about 403,000 barrels by 1996, and Coors' 1995 attempt to win back men with the amber Zima Gold variant failed within about a year. [5] [6]

    No real demandFailure to adapt
  5. 1999-2008

    Long decline and discontinuation

    Newer flavored malt beverages, led by Smirnoff Ice after 1999, took the market Zima had wanted, a 2007 California tax increase added cost pressure, and MillerCoors ended US production in October 2008. [7] [8] [9]

    Stronger competitorRegulatory pressure
  6. 2017-2018

    Brief nostalgia revivals

    Limited US re-releases in 2017 and 2018 sold out quickly, showing lingering brand recognition even after discontinuation. [10]

Structured analysis

What Went Wrong

Root causes

Trial without repeat purchase. Heavy marketing drove massive first-year trial, but disappointing taste meant the initial surge never converted into a loyal, repeat-buying customer base. [1] [2]

Marketed to men, adopted by women. Coors positioned Zima as a beer alternative for men, but young women became its core audience, and the resulting perception that Zima was an unmasculine "girly drink" undercut the brand Coors had built. [3]

Contributing factors

Cultural mockery cements the image. David Letterman's repeated on-air ridicule, including Top Ten List jokes, reinforced Zima's image as a punchline and accelerated the decline in its cultural standing. [4]

Zima Gold fails to fix the gender problem. Coors' 1995 attempt to win back male drinkers with the amber Zima Gold variant failed within about a year, leaving the core positioning problem unresolved. [5]

Smirnoff Ice and later malternatives. Newer flavored malt beverages, especially Smirnoff Ice after its 1999 launch, captured the market Coors had originally wanted Zima to own. [7]

California tax increase on flavored malt beverages. A 2007 California tax increase on flavored malt beverages raised costs in one of Zima's largest remaining markets and pushed toward the final US discontinuation. [8]

Immediate trigger

Sales collapse from the 1994 peak. US sales fell from roughly 1.2 to 1.3 million barrels in 1994 to about 403,000 barrels by 1996, converting Zima from a phenomenon into a shrinking, regional product within two years. [6]

Visible symptoms

Steep two-year sales drop. Barrel sales fell by roughly two-thirds within two years of the 1994 peak. [6]

Zima Gold's quick failure. The 1995 relaunch aimed at men lasted only about a year before it too was withdrawn. [5]

Warning signs

Adoption skewed toward women from the start. Even during its 1994 breakout, Zima's actual customer base skewed toward young women rather than the male beer drinkers Coors had targeted. [3]

Negative taste reactions during the trial boom. Press and consumer accounts describing Zima's flavor in unflattering terms circulated even while trial sales were at their peak, signaling the product itself would not sustain repeat purchases. [2]

Affected groups

CustomersInvestors

Keep reading

  • Crystal Pepsi

    The other flagship casualty of the early-90s "clear craze," Crystal Pepsi rode the same novelty trend to a fast start and a similarly fast collapse once repeat purchases failed to materialize.

Evidence

Claims & sources

Every numbered marker in the analysis links to the claim it rests on, and each claim to its sources.

  1. [1]

    Coors took Zima national in 1994 behind a marketing campaign in the tens of millions of dollars, and about 70 percent of US beer and liquor drinkers tried it, pushing sales to roughly 1.2 to 1.3 million barrels that year.

    High Fact Zima (drink) The long, slow, torturous death of Zima Zima: Rise and Fall of a '90s Phenomenon Zima: Launch, Sales, and Discontinuation
  2. [2]

    Once the novelty wore off, drinkers who tried Zima described its flavor in unflattering terms, comparisons included flat soda, tonic water, and antifreeze, and the trial-driven boom did not convert into repeat purchases.

    Moderate Reported explanation The long, slow, torturous death of Zima Zima: Rise and Fall of a '90s Phenomenon
  3. [3]

    Coors marketed Zima toward male beer drinkers, but it was disproportionately adopted by young women, and the resulting perception that Zima was an unmasculine "girly drink" became a serious commercial liability.

    Moderate Reported explanation Zima (drink) The long, slow, torturous death of Zima Zima: Rise and Fall of a '90s Phenomenon
  4. [4]

    Late-night host David Letterman repeatedly mocked Zima, including in his Top Ten Lists, and commentators credit his ridicule with cementing the drink's image as a punchline and accelerating its decline.

    Moderate Reported explanation Zima (drink) The long, slow, torturous death of Zima Zima: Rise and Fall of a '90s Phenomenon
  5. [5]

    In 1995 Coors launched Zima Gold, an amber variant aimed at men, but it failed within about a year.

    Moderate Fact Zima (drink)
  6. [6]

    Zima's US sales fell from their 1994 peak to about 403,000 barrels by 1996.

    Moderate Fact The long, slow, torturous death of Zima
  7. [7]

    Later flavored malt beverages, especially Smirnoff Ice after its 1999 launch, captured the male-skewing audience Coors had wanted for Zima and further eroded its position.

    Moderate Reported explanation Zima: Launch, Sales, and Discontinuation
  8. [8]

    A 2007 California tax increase on flavored malt beverages raised production costs in one of Zima's largest remaining markets and contributed to the decision to end US production.

    Moderate Reported explanation The long, slow, torturous death of Zima Zima: Rise and Fall of a '90s Phenomenon
  9. [9]

    MillerCoors ended US production of Zima in October 2008, by which point it held only a small fraction of the malt beverage market.

    Moderate Fact Zima (drink) The long, slow, torturous death of Zima Zima: Launch, Sales, and Discontinuation
  10. [10]

    Zima saw brief, nostalgia-driven limited US releases in 2017 and 2018 that sold out.

    Moderate Fact Zima (drink)

Sources