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Tab Clear was a variation of Tab. It is
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
's contribution to the short-lived "
clear cola Cola is a carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus oils and other flavorings. Cola became popular worldwide after the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a trademarked brand, in 1886, which was imi ...
" movement during the early 1990s. It was introduced in the United States on December 14, 1992,Coke Adds a Clear Cola To Its New Age Stable
New York Times, December 15, 1992
in the United Kingdom a month later
New York Times, January 19, 1983.
and in Japan in March 1993 to initially positive results. Tab Clear was, however, discontinued after only a short time of marketing in 1994. Unlike most other "clear" soft drinks, Tab Clear contained
caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine t ...
and, according to the company, had the flavor of cola.


Competition

After
PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...
's introduction of
Crystal Pepsi Crystal Pepsi is a clear cola soft drink made by PepsiCo. It was initially released in the United States and Canada from 1992 to 1994. Online grassroots revival efforts prompted brief re-releases throughout the mid-2010s. It was briefly sold ...
in mid-1992, Coca-Cola decided to follow suit with its own clear cola, Tab Clear, at the end of the year. In late December 1992, Coca-Cola Co. president Doug Ivester told a gathering of New York reporters that Tab Clear was being positioned as part of the "mainstream of diet soft drinks" and was "not a new-age beverage". He declared:


International introductions

Tab Clear went international only two weeks after its introduction in the United States. The clear cola with "a mouthful of flavor" was introduced at a news conference in London on January 18, 1993. The product was made available to the British public from early February that year with a trial price of 23 pence, initially in 330 ml cans and later in 1.5 and 2 litre
plastic bottle A plastic bottle is a bottle constructed from high-density or low density plastic. Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, milk, and ink. The size ranges from v ...
s. The drink was referred to as "a completely new idea in soft drinks and is unlike any other product available". This made Coca-Cola the first of the two rival US soft drink global corporations (Coke and Pepsi) to launch a clear cola in Europe. In early February that year, The Coca-Cola Company announced plans to introduce Tab Clear into Japan, scheduling a public introduction for mid-March. Japan became the third country to be introduced to Tab Clear. In the US and UK, Coca-Cola launched a heavy ad campaign for TaB clear with Chain of Mystery and Sinister Connections, linking TaB Clear with unintentionally being the cause of various historical events with the slogan "Suddenly everything is clear". Several radio ads were created as well, such as an ad about TaB Clear being an "eternal paradox" and an ad where "Drink TaB Clear" is discovered when a song is played backwards. A very different ad campaign was created in Japan with ads mostly unrelated to each other and either featuring or voiced over by a Japanese spokesman. TaB Clear commercials were played often, sometimes twice within a short break, proof of Coca-Cola's attempt to generate quick attention for the soft drink.


Initial market success

After positive consumer response in its initial 10 markets, it was announced on February 17, 1993, that Tab Clear would be introduced into an additional 20 American markets the coming March, increasing the drink's availability to 35 percent of the American population. In an article from the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', it was reported that Coca-Cola expected to have Tab Clear available nationwide by the end of the year. Despite the positive results, an article published in March that year reported "one oddity about the new Tab Clear: it is only sold in cans. You would think that would eliminate one of the pop's strongest selling points--its clearness."


Post-discontinuation

In July 2004, a BBC Business News article referred to how "colourless versions" of Coke "have not been hugely successful". Some have even referred to Tab Clear's marketing as a "born to die" campaign. In his 2011 book, ''Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry'', Stephen Denny published an interview with former Coca-Cola Chief Marketing Officer
Sergio Zyman Sergio Zyman (born July 30, 1945) is a marketing executive from Mexico best known as the marketer behind the failed launch of New Coke. Early life and education Zyman was born to a Jews in Mexico, Mexican Jewish family in Mexico City. He attende ...
that stated the formation and subsequent failure of Tab Clear was a deliberate move to destroy Crystal Pepsi, capitalizing on the public's lack of understanding of Pepsi's heavily marketed product. Tab Clear was marketed as a diet drink, which were less popular than traditional colas, and the Tab brand in general was seen as an inferior product to flagships like Coca-Cola or Pepsi. With Tab Clear being placed in such close proximity to Crystal Pepsi, the image of both brands would be damaged in what Zyman called a "
kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
" strategy. "This is like a cola," Zyman explained, "but it doesn't have any color. It has all this great taste. And we said, 'No, Crystal Pepsi is actually a diet drink.' Even though it wasn't. Because Tab had the attributes of diet, which was its demise. That was its problem. It was perceived to be a medicinal drink. Within three or five months, Tab Clear was dead. And so was Crystal Pepsi."Denny, Stephen. ''Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry''. Portfolio Hardcover, 2011, p. 86-89.


See also

*
List of defunct consumer brands This is a list of defunct consumer brands which are no longer made and usually no longer mass-marketed to consumers. Brands in this list may still be made, but are only made in modest quantities and/or limited runs as a nostalgic or retro style it ...


References

{{Diet sodas Coca-Cola cola brands Defunct drink brands Diet drinks Discontinued soft drinks Products introduced in 1992