The History of SURGE Soda - What Really Happened?
December 18, 2012 at 1:32am
SURGE was officially introduced in February of 1997, the first advertisement airing during the SuperBowl. Coke stocks were on a steady incline at the time and couldn't help but continue to rise with the success of SURGE.
In April of 1998, Sergio Zyman, the head of Coca-Cola's marketing department resigned from his post and the reigns were handed over to Charles S. Frenette, a man generally seen as having the complete opposite approach to marketing.
The very next month following this change, Coke's stocks reached their peak and began to plummet. At the same time, SURGE began to see a sharp decrease in sales that continued until its discontinuation in 2002.
The marketing "changing of the guard" definitely dealt a significant blow to the SURGE brand. However, advertising styles and organizational structures weren't the only problem. Another major factor was a growing notion of SURGE's supposed adverse effects among parents and teachers of the teen demographic, probably the largest slice of the SURGE consumer pie.
Rumors of high caffeine and sugar levels began to spread so rampantly that it actually hit news/media as early as August, 1997, SURGE's debut year. Schools began to ban the soda from vending machines and parents stopped buying SURGE for their children. In fact, some schools had banned SURGE as early as April of that year, just two months after its release.
Of course, we know that SURGE actually had less caffeine than Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew had 4.625 milligrams of caffeine per ounce while SURGE had 4.375. Those numbers don't look that different at face value but at 12 ounces, a standard can, they change to 55.5 vs 52.5. At 20oz, they become 92.5 and 87.5. It may also be worth noting that 12oz of coffee contains somewhere around 300mg.
Now, ten years later, we're fighting to get SURGE back! Most of us are those same people whose beverage choices were held at the mercy of parents and teachers. We no longer have that obstacle. We buy what we want and we want SURGE!
That just leaves marketing. So the question, now, is: how will 'WE' ensure SURGE isn't failed by Coke's advertising department? How will 'WE' keep the name alive until it's as ubiquitous as the name Coca-Cola itself? What can 'WE' do to make sure SURGE is successful for the long haul?
Well, I guess we'll have to see about that.
was one of my favorites and then vanished.. time to stock up before they drop it again. 
At some of the reviews:
