Good God, Surge Soda is Back

There was a day during my sophomore year of high school (year withheld) when the marketing arm behind Coca-Cola’s newest fizzy bev Surge set up a table in The Commons (fancier term for cafeteria) and offered us all free cans of the citrusy, poor-man’s Mountain Dew. I remember this event as Surge Day, or the day my entire school took full advantage of the word “free” and drank green can after green can and was thus hopped up on dangerously high levels of sugar, caffeine and Yellow 5 for the remainder of the afternoon.

The consequences to our Surge gluttony were high: empty, partially crushed cans strewn everywhere; bouts of nausea; delusions of grandeur; frantic eye movements; DJ Biasella even tried to climb a concrete column. It was madness. But it was Surge. And we loved it.

Like a lot of the beverages from my youth–Orbitz, Crystal Clear Pepsi, Frutopia, Zima–Surge was discontinued. But today, after a 12-year absence, Coke has brought the glorious cooler back (packaging unchanged!) due to a few brand obsessed individuals who lobbied extensively for its return. The company is selling it exclusively on Amazon, marking the first time Coke has sold a product through e-commerce. Milestones!

From Coca-Cola’s website:

“If expectations are met, this may be only the first of a variety of efforts we explore to launch niche products through e-commerce relationships,” said Wendy Clark, president of sparkling and strategic marketing,

Coca-Cola North America. “This will be a great learning experience for us and a refreshing opportunity for fans.”

I’d say that expectations are being met, indeed. Surge has already sold out. I’ve added myself to the list to be notified when it’s back in stock.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to pop in my Backstreet Boys Millennium album.