{"id":308152,"date":"2026-10-16T19:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T19:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/308152\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T19:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T19:12:12","slug":"how-pittsburghers-are-pitching-in-to-bring-back-a-discontinued-pop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/308152\/","title":{"rendered":"How Pittsburghers Are Pitching in to Bring Back a Discontinued Pop"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tabknut2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a nationwide push to bring back TaB, a diet soda the Coca-Cola Company<\/a> discontinued on Oct. 16, 2020 after 57 years of fizz.<\/p>\n

The prospect of the \u201cPink Pioneer\u2019s\u201d return makes Cranberry resident Knut Simonson feel downright bubbly.<\/p>\n

In 1970, while working as a graphic artist for Chicago-based Dickens Design Group, he helped reimagine the brand, giving TaB its signature pink hue and repeating \u201cSugar Free!\u201d script. Now, he\u2019s donating all of the hand-built prototypes to Coca-Cola Archives in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s energized my retirement,\u201d he says, pointing to a line-up of vintage steel cans displayed on his coffee table. \u201cThis stuff has been in boxes in my basement for 50 years and now there\u2019s finally a home for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his direct connection to the cola, Simonson admits he didn\u2019t keep tabs on TaB until recently, when Adam Burbach contacted him from Lincoln, Neb.<\/p>\n

The 44-year\u2013old spearheaded the Save TaB Soda<\/a> campaign shortly after the beverage disappeared from store shelves during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\"Tab3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNY BOYTNER<\/p>\n

He grew up drinking the beverage with a citrus-edged bite, and watched it become a \u201cpop\u201d culture phenomenon in movies and TV shows such as \u201cJaws,\u201d \u201cTaxi Driver,\u201d \u201cAirplane!,\u201d \u201cGhostbusters,\u201d \u201cSeinfeld,\u201d \u201cThe Simpsons\u201d and \u201cStranger Things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although TaB is still available in fountain form at Atlanta\u2019s World of Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Store locations in Orlando and Las Vegas, a few sips of nostalgia just isn\u2019t enough for Burbach.<\/p>\n

Six years ago, upon news of a production halt, there was a mad grab on TaB, so he bought pallets of pop as if stockpiling for the apocalypse. He now has eight cans left in his fridge and a hallway filled with TaB bric-a-brac.<\/p>\n

\"Tabhallway\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO COURTESY OF ADAM BURBACH<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing else that tastes like it; not Coke Zero, Diet Coke or Diept Pepsi,\u201d Burbach says. \u201cThere\u2019s also something about that branding. Tab\u2019s got sass!\u201d he says. \u201cIt resonated with a lot of people. It wasn\u2019t just a soda that they drank, it was their soda.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since 2021, the nonprofit Save TaB Soda has collected more than 9,500 signatures, attended shareholder meetings, released a TaB video game, distributed magnets and bumper stickers, coordinated call-in days to Coca-Cola\u2019s customer service line, sponsored a racecar, erected three pro-TaB billboards outside of Coke headquarters and hand-delivered hundreds of greeting cards to the site in honor of TaB\u2019s 60th anniversary.<\/p>\n

TaB debuted in 1963 to compete with Royal Crown Company\u2019s Diet Rite cola. The marketing research department used an IBM 1401 computer to generate a list of more than 185,000 name suggestions, making TaB one of the first AI-generated brands.<\/p>\n

\"Tab1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNY BOYTNER<\/p>\n

Over the years, a variety of flavors were released and different artificial sweeteners found their way into the formula, including cyclamate, which was banned by the Food & Drug Administration in 1969 due to its link to cancer. Sales waned after Coca-Cola launched Diet Coke in 1982, but it still maintained a cult following.<\/p>\n

Finding TaB in the wild became like a treasure hunt. Devotees from across the globe are now members of the Save TaB Soda committee, which convenes online every other week to discuss action plans.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re hoping Coke\u2019s new CEO Henrique Braun will listen to their pleas for more pop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no casual TaB drinkers, that\u2019s just your identity,\u201d says committee member Jenny Boyter, an East Liberty native who\u2019s lived in Atlanta for three decades.<\/p>\n

\"Tab2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNY BOYTNER<\/p>\n

When Coke discontinued TaB, friends and family reached out to her to offer their condolences. Boyter finds comfort in her TaB memorabilia, including T-shirts, water bottles and a pink Christmas tree that says up year-round. She even stayed overnight at the retro TWA Hotel<\/a> at New York\u2019s JFK Airport, which held a Toast to TaB retirement party in 2020.<\/p>\n

Like Boyter and Simonson, Burbach would be tickled pink if TaB was reborn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a real opportunity here,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are so many people who love it. I know from surveys we\u2019ve done on social media that it would sell out. I want Coke to take another look at TaB.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tab4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNY BOYTNER<\/p>\n

At Grandpa Joe\u2019s Candy Shop<\/a>, a Pittsburgh-based chain that carries more than 350 varieties of glass-bottled pop, TaB and other sentimental sips such as Tom Tucker Mint Ginger Ale and Cherikee Red Cherry Soda are still on customers\u2019 minds \u2014 and in their hearts.<\/p>\n

Christopher Beers, founder and CEO of the company, says there\u2019s hope for the TaB faithful:<\/p>\n

\u201cYears ago, when Coca-Cola discontinued the citrus-flavored soda, devoted fans rallied together and created a movement to bring it back,\u201d he explains in an email. \u201cTheir campaign gained so much momentum that they even purchased a billboard near Coca-Cola\u2019s headquarters in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually, Coca-Cola brought SURGE back as an Amazon exclusive, and its popularity led to a broader national rollout. Unfortunately, it was discontinued once again a few years ago. That story perfectly illustrates just how powerful nostalgia can be. People don\u2019t simply remember the flavor of a favorite soda or candy bar. They remember where they were, who they were with, and the memories associated with enjoying it.\u201d\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER There\u2019s a nationwide push to bring back TaB, a diet soda the Coca-Cola Company…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308153,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-308152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}