Tab, the iconic diet soda, will be gone by end of the year

[brooklynite]

USA Today

It's the end of an era.

TaB, the diet soda of choice for a generation of calorie counters will disappear by the end of the year, one of several drinks Coca-Cola is paring to focus on drinks with more popularity or potential.

"The objective is to drive impact and growth,'' Cath Coetzer, The Coca-Cola Company's global head of innovation and marketing operations said in a statement. "It’s about continuing to follow the consumer and being very intentional in deciding which of our brands are most deserving of our investments and resources, and also taking the tough but important steps to identify those products that are losing relevance and therefore should exit the portfolio.''

ZICO coconut water and Coca-Cola's Odwalla line of products will also be making an exit in the U.S.

The last saccharine-based soda if memory serves.

[AkFemDem]

1. I honestly didn't know it was even still around!

[CaptYossarian]

12. Neither did the writers of Back to the Future.

[genxlib]

2. Good riddance

That stuff was awful. I think it only stuck around because some very small group of people preferred it.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

6. Agreed!

I haven't tried it since I was a kid in the late-70's, I think, but I might as well have put industrial waste in my mouth as far as I was concerned!

So "artificial" tasting!

[agingdem]

4. yes it was

the aftertaste was awful...

[Submariner]

5. Almost as disgusting tasting as the original Moxie

[MoonchildCA]

7. I can only imagine it's "iconic,"

...because Marty made it so in Back to the Future. I don’t remember anyone actually drinking that stuff.

[niyad]

25. I had a friend who drank vodka and tab. Shudder!!!!!!

[texasfiddler]

8. Reminded me of this scene from Back to the Future

[link://https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=give+me+a+tab+back+to+the+future&docid=608055051651383605&mid=73B62D43B88ED7D4BCE473B62D43B88ED7D4BCE4&view=detail&FORM=VIRE|

[idziak4ever1234]

9. Thank you for that information!

I remember my grandpa drinking that when I was a kid. He used to give me a drink once in a while. I think I need to have one more drink before that nasty 1970's relic is gone for good.

[David__77]

10. "Tab! For beautiful people!"

The old commercials had a catchy song.

I worked with a guy who was a regular Tab drinker long after its peak popularity. I hope he’s ok with this news!

[Aristus]

11. My sister used to drink it when we were kids in the '70's.

I tried it. It tasted like crankcase fluid.

I don't actually know what crankcase fluid tastes like, but since I imagine it tastes horrible, I'm going to compare it to Tab.

[Chipper Chat]

13. The last Tab I saw was in 1976.

a 17 y o girl was drinking a bottle of it at our high school rehearsal for The King And I

[jayfish]

14. "The objective is to drive impact and growth,''

You want to drive impact and growth? How about you stop selling your product for more than twice as much as the equivalent measure of gasoline?

[no_hypocrisy]

15. I attended college 1975-79 and I estimate every other student was drinking Tab.

It was so ubiquitous that it seemed that the school colors of pink and green were adapted to fuchsia to match the shade of pink on the Tab can.

[brooklynite]

16. You weren't drinking JOLT?

"All the sugar; twice the caffeine"?

[no_hypocrisy]

17. I stuck to the water fountains in the dorm hall.

Both Tab and Jolt were revolting.

[Cirque du So-What]

18. Not a fan of the taste

I did, however, like the interesting texture of the glass bottle.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

19. Most people don't taste bitter/metal from saccharin...

... apparently!

I'd certainly describe it as metallic-tasting when I tried it years ago! Again, it reminded me of industrial waste... like maybe how used oil lubricant from a machine might taste!

It shocked me that anyone could regularly drink that stuff and seem to like it!

https://academic.oup.com/chemse/article/27/1/31/305098#3984478

Salts of saccharin are intensely sweet but also have a bitter taste to some individuals. Helgren et al. (Helgren et al., 1955) estimated that ∼25% of a European population will detect an off-taste to saccharin described as metallic or bitter.

[dv421]

20. OMG...

What is Jody Hamilton going to do now?

Is Mr. Pibb still around?

[Jimbo S]

26. Yes!

[Yavin4]

21. Man, the 70s are finally over. n/t

[Liberal In Texas]

22. Only time I tried it I thought it tasted like drinking chemicals. Good riddance. n/t

[niyad]

23. I didn't know that swill was still around. But then, I never look at coke products.

[NurseJackie]

24. I will miss it.

[TeamPooka]

27. mu mom drank TAB back in the 70s. at some point Diet Coke took over

[JenniferJuniper]

28. Early 1980's for diet coke,

I remember seeing it in a vending machine on campus and saying "Wha? - are they getting rid of Tab?"

Took them long enough!