Adolph Coors Company: Zima campaign
Robert SchnakenbergOverview
Despite its previous robust growth, the Adolph Coors Company fell victim with the nation's other major brewing companies to a sales slump in the early 1990s. In an effort to spike sales, it took note of two emerging trends in the beverage industry: the rise of "clear" drink products and the popularity of low-alcohol refreshers. So in the fall of 1992, amid great fanfare, the Adolph Coors Company introduced Zima, a limpid, lightly carbonated alcoholic beverage.
Zima, distributed nationally by 1994, was essentially beer filtered through charcoal to remove all "beer cues"—i.e.,...