I had only just published my last post about 90’s ska music and this appeared in my inbox. I’m pretty sure that my first alcoholic beverage was a Zima.
Duncan was not a real person. He was a fictional character crafted the image of Generation X caricature to embody the brand of cool that Zima was selling…
Through Duncan, the Coors brand hoped to connect to their consumers in a way that felt authentic. Everyone knew that Duncan was fake, but at least he was cool and fun to read about; a simulacrum constructed in the service of selling clearmalt drinks…
The repackaged angst of the MTV generation being sold by the media industry was not unique to Zima, it was plastered all over the skateboard wielding, grunge listening, slackers that popped up in commercials and TV shows. But the web, in its earliest academic and largely isolated incarnation had managed to avoid that type of commodification.
Then Duncan comes in with his apathetic edge and a bottle of Zima and his blog and changed all of that.