Tab, The Iconic Coca-Cola Diet Soda, Is Going To Go Extinct

Say it ain’t so! Coca-Cola might consider parting ways with one of their sodas, and fans — like myself — haven’t felt so betrayed since Coke Zero turned into Coke Zero Sugar. (Seriously guys, it’s not the same in my eyes.) The difference in this cut is the fact that this soda plays a big part in Coca-Cola’s history.

The company realized that sales for Tab — their first diet soda that was formulated back in the ’60s — were dropping. You likely know the brand best by its reddish-magenta cans. The name came from the idea that consumers would want to “keep tabs” on their weight. Even though we now know that diet soda varieties aren’t necessarily wonderful for you either, it was a strong campaign. Unfortunately, sales of Tab dropped after Diet Coke was unveiled. The new diet soda pretty much won over the country and became available in stores and restaurants all over the world.

Still, Tab continued to be in production. In 2013, the brand celebrated its 50th birthday. The Coca-Cola company reported that back then, three million cases of Tab were produced each year.

To compare, 885 million cases of Diet Coke were sold that same time. So, Tab was definitely starting to become a rarity.

Food & Wine reports an even more harrowing statistic today. These days, only about 1.5 million cases of Tab are now sold annually. That means that Tab has been pulled from a lot of retailers where it used to be readily available — and fans are not too happy. “After careful review, we recently removed Tab 12-pack cans from the portfolio of beverages we offer,” the company said to the New York Times. The cut in cases will reportedly impact states on the East Coast.

So, what can you do to help? It’s simple.  You can either sign one of the petitions to help increase production, or you can seek out Tab and become a fan and supporter. Tab isn’t advertised the way that other Coca-Cola products are these days, so it’s harder for the iconic soda to drum up a new fanbase.

Even though Coca-Cola stated that they have no plans to stop making Tab, the shortage of cases is not a great sign. If you see Tab in stores, you might want to stockpile.