Surge (soft drink)

Surge

Left: 1997–99 and 2014–present logo
Right: 1999–2003 logo
Type Citrus soda
Manufacturer The Coca-Cola Company
Country of origin United States
Introduced 1997
2014 (Amazon-exclusive)
2015-present
Discontinued 2003
Color Light Green
Related products Citra/Fanta Citrus
Mello Yello
Mountain Dew
Sprite
Sun Drop
Urge
Vault

Surge (sometimes styled as SURGE) is a citrus flavored soft drink developed by the New Products team at Coca Cola Atlanta in 1997. Surge was first produced by The Coca-Cola Company to compete with Pepsi's Mountain Dew during the 1990s. Surge was advertised as having a more "hardcore" edge, much like Mountain Dew's advertising at this time, in an attempt to further take customers away from Pepsi. It was originally launched in Norway as Urge, and was so popular that it was later released in America as Surge. Lagging sales caused production to be ended in 2003 for most markets,[1] and by 2014 Norway was the last country where either Urge or Surge were still sold.

However, popular fan bases such as Facebook's "SURGE Movement" led Coca-Cola to re-release the soft drink on September 15, 2014 for the US market via Amazon.com "Prime" in 12-packs of 16 oz. cans.[2] In February 2015, Coca-Cola initiated a test market for the beverage in stores primarily in the Southeastern United States, and concluded in May 2015. Some locations outside of the test region have also been found to sell Surge. Surge was re-released to stores in the Southeast, Northeast, parts of the Midwest, and the Mountain States of America in September 2015.

History

Early years

Urge: the Norwegian variant of Surge

In 1997, Coca-Cola started production of Surge in the United States, with its original whitepaper name being "MDK," or "Mountain Dew Killer."[3] It was developed to converge with Mello Yello as a means of slowing Mountain Dew growth. Coke's attempts to draw users away with divergent products like OK Soda or with similar ones like Mello Yello had not succeeded. Surge was intended to improve on Mountain Dew by using maltodextrin for a longer-lasting blast of energy and with bolder, brighter presentation. Its release was accompanied by a 50 million dollar nationwide marketing campaign that led to initially high sales and popularity. A few years after the release, sales began to slip. Surge continued to be sold in vending machines, bottles, cans and as a fountains drink until its eventual discontinuation in 2003.[1][4]

While preparations for the US launch were underway, a cry for help came in from the Norwegian Division, who were battling a successful launch of Dew in their market. Because the Surge brand was already registered by another party, the product was launched as "Urge". Local food regulation prevented the bright green color being used, so it was launched with a pale, more natural juice drink look and given a slight orange taste to match the flavor with the color.

Until September 15, 2014, when Coca-Cola re-released Surge, Norway was the only country where one could still buy a similar soft drink in any form, as the original Surge recipe is still popular there.[5]

Surge was widely associated with the extreme sports lifestyle, with television commercials similar to those used by Mountain Dew at the time.[6] Coca-Cola also used provocative catchphrases to market Surge to extreme sports enthusiasts and teenagers alike. Some of these catchphrases included "Feed the Rush", "Life's a Scream" and the references to Surge as "A Fully Loaded Citrus Soda." Further touted was the fact that Surge had a considerable number of carbohydrates, hence the "with carbos" tagline that was occasionally used in the marketing campaigns to emphasize the fact that Surge was supposed to be more than a soda, but an energy drink as well.[7]

After its inception, Surge's logo was updated and redesigned to a sharper and more modern look by a graphic designer/marketer Colin Nekritz.[3]

Trademark

In 1997 Coca-Cola settled trademark dispute with Babson Bros., an industrial cleaning product company whose cow-milking machine has been known as Surge since 1925.[8]

Resurgence

After the discontinuation of Surge in cans, a community was formed by web designer Eric "Karks" Karkovack entitled "Save Surge". The community initially mapped the locations at which Surge could be purchased in fountain form. Upon cancellation of the fountain syrup, the community continued, adopting an approach of activism that led to the creation of the citrus soda Vault in June 2005.[7] Vault was discontinued in 2011.

As a result of Vault's discontinuation, a group was started on Facebook called the "Surge Movement". The group repetitively posted requests on Coca-Cola's Facebook page, and encouraged its members to call Coca-Cola's consumer affairs hotline at 1-800-GET-COKE to voice their desires further, once every month. The movement gained around 200,000 Facebook "likes" in the months after it was started and continues to grow.[9]

On September 15, 2014, Surge was re-released as an Amazon.com exclusive in packs of twelve 16 oz cans.[10]

On February 10, 2015, Coca Cola announced that it had begun test-marketing Surge with independent resellers and vending machines across the Southeast United States. Coca Cola plans to re-introduce Surge to other regions in the US pending successful sales in test markets. The test run ended in late-May 2015..

On July 30, 2015, Coca-Cola announced that it was preparing for a large-scale Surge retail release across the Eastern United States. Surge was re-released at convenience stores across the Eastern United States on September 7, 2015..

On November 16, 2015, Burger King restaurants released a slushy version of the beverage called "Frozen Surge" as a limited edition slushy.

Formulation

Comparisons of Surge have been made to a later Coca-Cola product, Vault, which was first released in 2005—around two years after the discontinuation of Surge. Vault has also been discontinued as of December 2011. The two drinks are noted to have had similar taste, although Vault contained higher levels of caffeine at 70.5 mg per 12 fl. oz serving and contained artificial flavors in its recipe. The caffeine content of Surge was comparable to that of other citrus soft drinks in the American market during its time at 51 mg per 12 fl. oz serving.[11]

Below is a listing of the ingredients of Surge, per the label on the canned and bottled versions, as well as the ingredient listings from both a Surge fountain syrup box, and a Surge Frozen Carbonated Beverage box. All four differ slightly; however, more information regarding the Surge formulation can be gleaned from both syrup variations, as they were to be mixed using a ratio of 4.4 parts cold, carbonated water to 1 part syrup.[12]

Surge Can/Bottle (1997-2003) <ref name=Matt Parnell's Brain: Plugged In! - Surge and Vault>Parnell,Matt. "Matt Parnell's Brain: Plugged In! – Surge and Vault". Retrieved 2012-01-25. </ref> Surge Fountain Syrup [13] Surge FCB Syrup [12] Surge Can (2015) [14]
Carbonated Water High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or Sucrose High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or Sucrose Carbonated Water
High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or Sucrose Water Water High Fructose Corn Syrup
Maltodextrin Maltodextrin Maltodextrin Maltodextrin
Citric Acid Citric Acid Citric Acid Citric Acid
Natural flavors Natural flavors Natural flavors Natural flavors
Concentrated Orange juice Concentrated Orange Juice Concentrated Orange Juice Orange Juice Concentrate
Potassium Benzoate Potassium Benzoate Yucca Extract Potassium Benzoate
EDTA and Erythorbic Acid EDTA and Erythorbic Acid Quillaia Potassium Citrate
Potassium Citrate Potassium Citrate Potassium Benzoate Caffeine
Caffeine Caffeine EDTA and Erythorbic Acid Calcium Disodium EDTA
Yellow #5 Yellow #5 Potassium Citrate Yellow #5
Yellow #6 Yellow #6 Caffeine Yellow #6
Carob Bean Gum Carob Bean Gum Yellow #5 Carob Bean Gum
Blue #1 Blue #1 Yellow #6 Blue #1
    Carob Bean Gum  
    Blue #1  

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Why Mountain Dew Has No Reason To Fear The Return Of Surge". The Huffington Post. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  2. ↑ Maheshwari,Sapna. "Coca-Cola Is Bringing Surge Back". Retrieved 2014-09-15.
  3. 1 2 Nekritz, Colin. "A Logo is More than a Logo – Surge Soda". Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  4. ↑ "SaveSURGE.org - Dedicated to the preservation of SURGE - The Fully Loaded Citrus Soda! surge cola, surge soda, save surge, urge, fully loaded citrus soda". Archived from the original on 17 December 2002. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "Coca-Cola Norway website". Coca-Cola. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
  6. ↑ "YouTube – Surge Barrels of Fun Commercial". Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  7. 1 2 "SaveSURGE.org". Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  8. ↑ "Coke settles dispute over Surge trademark". Southeast Missourian. January 24, 1997. p. 6B. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  9. ↑ "SURGE MOVEMENT". Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  10. ↑ Alter, Charlotte (September 2014). "Coca-Cola Is Bringing Back SURGE". Time. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  11. ↑ "How Much Caffeine is in Vault?". VaultKicks.org. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  12. 1 2 "Surge FCB Syrup". Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  13. ↑ "Surge Fountain Syrup". Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  14. ↑ "Surge Ingredients and Nutritional Information - Coca-Cola". Retrieved 2015-09-25.
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