5 Soft Drinks That Have Fizzled Out

As a parent, it’s often fun to tell your children stories about when you were kid. It may show your true age, but it’s also good for children to learn that things weren’t always the way they are now. Perhaps that is most true when it comes to consumer products.

On April 23, 1985, New Coke was introduced with a new recipe that had a new flavor and a sweeter taste.

It was huge news. The problem was that consumers didn’t care for the change, and New Coke was an epic fail. As Coca-Cola wrote in The Real Story of New Coke, “To hear some tell it, April 23, 1985, was a day that will live in marketing infamy...spawning consumer angst the likes of which no business has ever seen.”

In celebration of the 30-year anniversary of the New Coke launch, here are four other historic sodas your children (and possibly even you) may not know or remember because they’ve fizzled out.

Crystal Pepsi
Pepsi experimented with this caffeine-free soda in the 1990s. The clear drink was supposed to make the product seem like a healthier soda for consumers. About a year and a half after its launch, the product was pulled off the shelves.

Slice
When PepsiCo, Inc. introduced a lemon-lime soda, it was known as Slice, and the brand expanded to include favors like mandarin orange, grape, strawberry, and even pineapple. Over time, Slice faded and was eventually replaced with a similar product now known as Sierra Mist.

Bubble Up
Prior to the now-popular Sprite, Coke distributed Bubble Up as its lemon-lime pop. Advertised as a little bit lighter tasting lemon-lime, Bubble Up has been around since 1919. As the soda approaches its 100th birthday, it is now being manufactured by The Dad’s Root Beer Company headquartered in Indiana.

Tab
In the popular 1980s film Back to the Future, Marty McFly walks into a 1950s diner and asks for a Tab. The worker is as confused as someone would likely be if you asked for this beverage in a restaurant today. This sugar-free, one-calorie drink was ahead of its time when it launched in 1963. Though still sold today by Coke, sales of this product are dwarfed by Diet Coke, which was created in 1982.

What other beverages do you remember from your childhood?