Tab (soft drink)
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 Various Tab products |
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| Type | Soft drink |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Coca-Cola Company |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Introduced | 1950s 1960s |
| Flavor | Diet Cola |
| Variants | Tab Clear, Tab X-Tra, Tab Energy |
| Related products | Diet Coke, Coke Zero |
Tab (styled as "TaB") is a diet cola soft drink produced by the Coca-Cola Company.
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[edit] History
Tab was introduced as a diet drink in the mid 1960s by Coca-Cola. According to the Coca-Cola Web page, the beverage is called Tab because it helps people who keep tabs on what they consume. According to an Atlanta Magazine article published in May 1963, Coca-Cola's marketing research department used its IBM 1401 computer to generate a list of over 250,000 four-letter words with one vowel, adding names suggested by the company's own staff. The list was stripped of any words deemed unpronounceable or too similar to existing trademarks. From a final list of about twenty names, "Tabb" was chosen, influenced by the possible play on words, and shortened to "Tab" during development, and designer Sid Dickens gave the name its familiar capitalisation pattern ("TaB") in the logo he designed.
Tab has been reformulated several times. It was initially sweetened with cyclamate. After the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a ban on cyclamate in 1969, saccharin was used. In 1977, the FDA moved to ban saccharin. The ban proposal was rejected by the U.S. Congress, but it did require that all products containing saccharin carry a warning label that saccharin may cause bladder cancer. In 2000, the U.S. government lifted this requirement. A formula revision in 1984 blended saccharin with a small amount of aspartame; this is the formula that is currently marketed in North America. Tab sales have been dwarfed by those of Diet Coke, though enough people still prefer Tab to keep it in production.
Caffeine Free Tab was introduced in the 80s to little fanfare and disappeared soon afterward.
Coca Cola company was originally developing Diet Coke as new improved Tab and the idea was nixed in favor of Diet Coke, going against company policy of never having another Coke. The Diet Coke success opened the floodgates to have many other versions of Coke, though none as successful.
At the height of its popularity, the Tab name was briefly extended to other diet soft drinks, including Tab Lemon-Lime and Tab Orange[1]. In 1993, Coca-Cola released Tab Clear in the U.S., Australia and UK, a curious move in the case of the latter as the original Tab was sold in the UK in the 1970s but was not a success. It was withdrawn after less than a year, despite acquiring a number of devotees. Tab has of late become something of a cult beverage, with heavily dedicated drinkers. For example, in the film Zero Effect, the eccentric main character Daryl Zero (played by Bill Pullman) has a refrigerator filled entirely with Tab. This is one of the few reasons Tab is still produced; its share of the national soft drink market is minuscule. Typically, Tab is now only found in supermarkets and convenience stores in 12-ounce cans, by 12-pack or 6-pack. It is also available in some places in two-litre bottles.
Tab Energy is an energy drink released in early 2006. Though sharing the brand name, Tab Energy does not taste like Tab.
This product's advertisements have been discontinued, but the product is still available in the market. According to Coca Cola CEO, "It shows you care. We want to make sure those who want Tab get Tab."
[edit] Advertising
Much of the advertising around Tab was geared towards women with an emphasis on the fact that it could help them keep physically fit, even going so far as to appeal to their desire to be sexy for men. A popular campaign in the late '60s carried the slogan "Be a mind sticker!," the insinuation being that Tab would help you keep an attractive body shape so that "when you can't be there with him" you would be in his thoughts, with "a shape he can't forget," and also saying "they'll stick to you like glue." A later slogan in the '70s touted the brand as "a beautiful drink for beautiful people."
[edit] Pop Culture
Tab was referenced in the Family Guy episode "The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou" which showed Stewie drinking Tab during a tanning session, with physical movements that echo 70's-era television commercials for the product.
The Futurama episode "Amazon Women in the Mood" takes place on the planet Amazonia, which is inhabited only by giant women. When searching the jungle, Fry and Bender find a large empty can of Tab.
Tab was also heavily used as a subplot in The Sarah Silverman Program episode "Muffin' Man".
In the first "Back to the Future", Marty McFly orders a Tab in a diner after going back to 1955. The man at the counter thinks he's asking for a bill and replies "TaB? I can't give you a tab unless you order something". To which McFly responds, "Then give me a Pepsi Free." in reference to Pepsi's caffeine free offering of the time.
In the book Bright Lights, Big City Tab is the drink which Megan asks protagonist, "you", to bring her when you go out for lunch.
In the song Code Monkey by Jonathan Coulton, code monkeys like "Fritos, Tab, and Mountain Dew."
On the episode of the Simpsons "King Size Homer", the seventh episode of the seventh season, Homer puts on weight to claim a disability and works at home. While he is at home on the computer he sees the tab button on the keyboard expecting it to make him a Tab .
Tab was referenced in the BBC police comedy-drama Ashes to Ashes series 1, episode 1 where DI Drake is offered a can of Tab by a junior WPC.
[edit] Tab brands
- Tab
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- Cola flavored; also came in[citation needed] Rootbeer, Orange, Ginger Ale, Strawberry, Lemon-Lime, Pina Colada and Black Cherry
- Tab Clear
- Tab X-Tra
- Tab Energy
[edit] External links and references
- ILoveTab.com - the most comprehensive fan site and community
- Tab brand information on Coca-Cola website
- The World of Tab Soda
- Tab Soda Web
- snopes.com:Origins of Tab
- New Yorker article on high profile Tab fans
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