Fans Are Trying To Bring Back An Iconic Soda
In a last ditch effort to save an iconic soda, fans are pleading with Coca-Cola to bring it back.
This article is more than 2 years old
Developing diet sodas translated into one of the smartest moves Coca-Cola ever made. The company’s entrance into the diet coke industry was labeled as Project Alpha and was a risky venture. The purpose of the venture was to create a soda that tasted excellent, felt good in the mouth, was appealing to women (the target demographic), and had a memorable name. However, the precursor to Diet Coke was Tab soda, and dedicated Tab fans are now fighting to save the dying soda.
Tab help to navigate the one main caveat to Project Alpha. Coke officials had to follow a name rule — it couldn’t be called Diet Coke. And even though there was the undeniable fact that it tasted like Coke, it still couldn’t be called Diet Coke. Because most early diet sodas didn’t taste very good, marketers warned against connecting their brands with beverages that could ruin their wonderful value. Tab soda tapped into a solution.
In a statement made by North America’s group director of Diet Coke at Coca-Cola, Kerry Kopp, says thank you to Tab soda. Kopp bragged about Tab trailblazing the way for the diets and lights category. He also went on to thank the legion of Tab enthusiasts who embraced the brand for nearly six decades. “If not for Tab, we wouldn’t have Diet Coke or Coke Zero Sugar. Tab did its job. In order to continue to innovate and give consumers the choices they want today, we have to make decisions like this one as part of our portfolio rationalization work.”
Despite sales dropping since a two-decade peak before the turn of the century, there are still people who really want Tab. “I am heartbroken,” said Joy Robertson, a Tab soda-obsessive fan told CBS New York. “I have this left in all the world, this is all I have left, it’s not OK.”
Robertson isn’t alone in her Tab soda-related anguish, according to CNN. The SaveTabSoda Committee was founded by a group of Tab fans who have been drinking Tab for a long time. So far, they’ve planned “coordinated call days,” in which Tab enthusiasts phone Coca-customer Cola’s service number to urge their cause, and a letter-writing effort to persuade Coca-Cola executives.
More than $1,700 in donations have been made, which the SaveTabSoda Committee says it will use to market its cause. The organizers noted on the group’s website that they hope to erect digital billboards across Atlanta, Georgia, in different sites. In addition to increasing advertising on social media and other platforms, SaveTabSoda wants to raise the number of people who support its cause.
They’ve also started a Change.org petition. It received over 2,000 signatures the last time we checked. Another, but earlier, petition on the Change.org site was launched by a Redditor and has received over 4,600 signatures. Unfortunately, though, Tab soda aficionados’ enthusiasm isn’t enough to keep Tab on the menu. Not even desperate appeals and internet pushing appear to make the Coca-Cola Company budge. However, a company spokeswoman told CNN the brand is empathetic with the passionate legion of Tab enthusiasts who have reached out. She went on to say that the brand is particularly appreciative of those who reached out and who have cherished the brand for almost 60 years.
