MillerCoors brought Zima back for one summer and fans emptied the shelves

Zima, the clear citrus malt beverage Coors launched in the early 1990s, had fuelled the flavoured-malt-beverage craze only to be crowded out by hard lemonades and craft beer. It was discontinued in the US in 2008 but kept a cult following and never died in Japan, where it stayed on shelves as a club drink.

By 2017 MillerCoors decided the 90s were the quintessential nostalgia decade and brought Zima back, marketing it to the people who remembered it. Senior Zima marketing manager Tristan Meline framed it as the return of a '90s icon, and the company had staff who had worked on the original recreate the look, feel and taste.

The run was deliberately short, available from the Fourth of July weekend until around Labour Day. Demand was heavier than supply: one Michigan distributor received 3,800 cases and said it could use more, and expected MillerCoors to bring it back again because of how well it sold.

The limited summer run drew heavy demand that distributors could not fulfil, and MillerCoors brought Zima back bigger in 2018.

The 90s nostalgia moment made a '90s icon feel timely again.

Recreating the original recipe gave fans the exact product they remembered.

Scarcity and a short window created demand rather than stocked shelves.

The brand's existing cult following lowered the cost of reminding people it existed.

A dead brand with a cult following is a ready-made nostalgia asset if you keep it scarce and short.

The 2017 sellout proved the nostalgia play, and MillerCoors returned Zima in 2018 with about 40% more production while still treating it as a brief seasonal release.