Discontinued Drinks That Refuse to Fade Away from Consumer Memory

Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been releasing new products for decades, but some of their old ones still linger in people's memories. The clear cola trend of the early 1990s brought out Crystal Pepsi, which was launched nationally in 1992 as a clear cola positioned around the era's fascination with transparent products. It captured only a small fraction of market share and was discontinued by 1994.

Coca-Cola also released Surge in 1997 as a neon-green, highly caffeinated answer to Mountain Dew, backed by an aggressive extreme-sports marketing campaign. Although it failed to sustain momentum, Dr Pepper introduced Red Fusion in 2002, a bright red, fruit-flavored variation that marked the brand's first new flavor addition in more than a century.

Other discontinued drinks include Diet Pepsi Jazz, which was released in 2006 and came in three separate flavor variations during its short run. Pepsi also tested Pepsi Kona in the late 1990s, a coffee-flavored cola aimed at combining soda and coffee culture into a single drink. It never expanded beyond limited regional test markets.

Many of these discontinued drinks were brought back for limited releases or nostalgia releases, but none became permanent products.