Last April, the Coca-Cola Company issued a triumphant press release announcing that it had introduced a soft drink in the metaverse. The 136-year-old beverage maker touted its latest concoction, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Byte, as “transcend[ing] the digital and physical worlds.” Along with a limited-edition real-world version that was aimed at gamers, the drink was available in virtual form within the wildly popular online game Fortnite.
Coke’s landmark moment had an absurdist tinge: After all, you can’t taste a virtual cola or get a caffeine hit from it. But it would have been almost odder if the company hadn’t staked its claim in the metaverse. Over the past year, many high-profile brands have trumpeted their own arrivals in this curious netherworld, from Zara (fashion for avatars) to Ferrari (a digital 296 GTB supercar) to Nike (an entire virtual theme park called Nikeland).
Yet, here’s the strangest part of this mad rush: The metaverse doesn’t exist yet.
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