| Type | Citrus soda |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | The Coca-Cola Company |
| Country of origin | Norway |
| Introduced | Testing: Norway: 1996 International: 1997 |
| Discontinued | 2003 In USA, Denmark and Sweden |
| Related products | Vault Mello Yello Sprite Mountain Dew Mountain Dew MDX Sun Drop |
Surge was a citrus soft drink first introduced in Norway, under the name Urge (1996), by the Coca-Cola Company to compete with Pepsi's Mountain Dew.
In 1996, Coca-Cola decided to start producing Urge in the United States under the name Surge, although in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the name remained the same. In the USA, the product did very well for the first few years, but eventually started to slip in sales. The Coca-Cola company has since ceased production of this beverage in the USA, Denmark and Sweden in 2001, and stopped making the syrup for fountains in 2002.
Norway is the only country where one can still buy a bottled version of this soft drink.[1] Surge was widely associated with the extreme sports lifestyle, with television commercials similar to those currently used by Mountain Dew.
Comparisons of this soft drink have been made to a more recent Coca-Cola product, Vault, which was first released in 2005—around four years after the discontinuation of Surge. The two drinks are noted to have similar ingredients and taste, although Vault contains higher levels of caffeine at 70.5 mg per 12 fl. oz. The caffeine content of Surge was comparable to that of other citrus soft drinks in the American market at 52.5 mg per 12 fl. oz, as stated by Coca-Cola representatives and the American Beverage Association.
Urge was originally available in Norway in 0.5L and 1.5L bottles. The 1.5L bottles were discontinued in 1999, but were reintroduced to the Norwegian market on September 1, 2008, due in part to a consumer campaign on Facebook.[2]
As of September 13, 2011 Coca-Cola has discontinued Vault. A campaign in the U.S. is once again under way for SURGE to get back on the market. These pages can be found at: http://www.facebook.com/surgemovement and http://www.twitter.com/surgemovement.
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