While Coca-Cola and Pepsi are the biggest names in sodas and soft drinks, there are many, many others that have tried and failed to capture the imagination of beverage drinkers everywhere.
1. Slice.
It was Pepsi’s version of Sprite that was introduced in 1984. The soda drink company discontinued it in the year 2000 and replaced Slice with Sierra Mist.
2. Josta.
It was Pepsi’s first energy soda that featured guarana and caffeine, as its prime ingredients. Josta was introduced in 1995, but discontinued in 1999.
3. Hubba Bubba.
It was soda from the Wrigley Company and a gum flavored soda. Hubba Bubba soda spent its days on grocery store shelves throughout the 80s.
4. Surge.
It was Coca-Cola’s answer to Mountain Dew, but more extreme. It hit grocery store shelves in 1996, but discontinued six years later in 2002.
5. Sprite Remix.
It was a more extreme version of Sprite with three different flavors, Berryclear, Tropical, and Aruba Jam. Cola-Cola, who owns Sprite, discontinued it in 2005, two years after it was introduced.
6. OK Soda.
Coca-Cola launched OK Soda in 1993, but quickly discontinued it seven months later. It never hit the national spotlight, but rather only locally. As for the soda’s taste? It was OK.
7. Jolt.
It was the most extreme soda of them all and a flagship product of Wet Planet Beverage. It was introduced in 1985 as an alternative to Coca-Cola and Pepsi. It saw some love in Jurassic Park as product placement, but it was discontinued in 2011.
8. Pepsi Blue.
Pepsi introduced Pepsi Blue to compete with Vanilla Coke in 2002. It was a blueberry-infused soft drink. It was later discontinued in 2004.
9. New Coke.
Infamously, the Coca-Cola Company discontinued the original Coca-Cola in 1985 because they were losing market share to Pepsi for the first time ever. In a panic, they re-tooled the formula to make it taste more like Pepsi. New Coke was introduced and was quickly pulled from shelves when many, many people vocally hated the change. However, New Coke flourished in Europe under the name Coke II, but was discontinued in 2002.
Coca-Cola unveiled New Coke 20 years ago today. The brand was one of the biggest mistakes in the history of American business.