Keeping TaB: A Diet Soft Drink Shelf Life

If there's a heritage to a brand and the brand has withstood the test of time maybe there's a story to tell. -Jeffrey Himmel, CEO, Himmel Group, New York Since its formulation in 1963, the Coca-Cola Company's offspring, Tab, has transcended standard diet soft drink status to become a quirky yet enduring cultural icon that invites contradiction, curiosity, and anachronistic quips. Taste tests alone yield divergent responses along the soft drink spectrum. Self-professed Tabaholics pronounce the beverage an "elixir of the gods," likening a sip to a "crisp Chardonnay" (McKay Bl). More cautious, less complimentary cola connoisseurs characterize Tab's taste as "sassy" (Giges, "Why Coke" 2), "mysterious" (Bryant), or "a good tart coke" (Alien 320), while dissenters dismiss Tab with distasteful descriptions such as "diety," "peppery," "astringent," and "metallic" (McKay Bl). Likewise, Tab's presence at the grocery check-out lanes invites contrasting glances from bar-code scanning clerks, often denned along generational lines, the older response being, "I didn't know they still made that stuff," while the standard younger remark is, "Oh, is this a new drink?"1 Tab's liquid life is one of peculiar perseverance. The Tabloid is a progression of points from pioneer and possibility to potential poison, paradox, and parody. The beverage's cultural context extends beyond calorie consciousness to contain corporate conflict within Coca-Cola, cancer concerns, cola canmbahzation, the clear movement, and kitschy, comedic characterizations in film and television narratives. In its four decades, Tab has survived the cyclamate and saccharine scare of the 1970s, the arrival of Diet Coke in the 1980s and the cola wars that followed, and the saturation of sport drinks and bottled water in the 1990s. In today's sea of beverages, overflowing with more than nine hundred brands of bottled water and cola competitors in a newmillennium mode adding lemon twists, berry blue fusions, and cherry and vanilla retro revivals, Tab still manages a minuscule market share and a clinging subcultural following. Tabloid: A Quirky Low-Calorie Chronicle The "dawn of a new era" manifesto that permeated American culture during the 1960s had widespread ripples that reached even the soft drink industry. The decade marked a significant turning point in the rivalry between its two leaders, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, as they encountered a changing consumer composition and climate. A surge of young consumers from the postwar baby boom unveiled a thirst for soft drink flavors other than cola. In addition, beverage buyers became increasingly interested in convenience packaging and distribution through vending machines and nonreturnable bottles. The modernized mentality of the marketplace meant image alteration for the cola companies. Coca-Cola's identity was considered old fashioned and part of the World Wars I and II generations, while Pepsi was the drink of their children. Coke responded paradoxically with reluctance and necessary aggression. The company broke its seventy-five-year tradition by introducing a noncola beverage, Sprite, and a new line of popular flavors under the brand name Fanta. It also began experimentation with canned drinks. Pepsi countered by producing its own lemon-lime drink, Teem, and a line of flavors called Patio. Another significant factor emerging within the collective cultural, consumer, and cola consciousness was calorie counting. During the 1950s, women in particular had become increasingly calorie conscious. The preoccupation with appearance escalated during the early 1960s. Among the contributing factors "was the high-profile presence of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, whose slim elegance provided an image many sought to emulate. Market surveys in the early 1960s indicated that twenty-eight percent of the population in America were watching their weight. "The bulging waistline and middle age spread has taken on proportions of a national calamity," wrote one commentator characterizing the cultural (out of) condition (Pendergrast 283). …