MolsonCoors announced today that it was discontinuing the Zima brand due to poor sales. While I have never been a fan of the malt liquor beverage, it does hold a special place in the history of the Internet. How does Zima have anything to do with the Internet you may ask. Zima was the first known consumer product to feature its website address on the packaging.
This was a turning point for the fledging web in 1994 to have a major (or semi-major) brand consumer product advertise their online presence directly on their product, thus beginning the commercialization of the Internet to drive consumer product sales.
My question is would the Web have stayed a just Fad (as it was considered to be at the time) if something like this would have never happened? Would the Internet as we know it today be different or exist at all if no had thought to use it as a marketing tool?
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