| Tab | |
|---|---|
 The Tab family of products |
|
| Type | Diet Cola |
| Manufacturer | Coca-Cola Company |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Introduced | 1963 |
| Variants | Tab Clear, Tab X-Tra, Tab Energy |
| Related products | Diet Coke |
TaB is a diet cola soft drink produced by the Coca-Cola Company.
History
TaB was the first diet soft drink brand produced by the Coca-Cola Company. TaB was the second diet soft drink overall, after Diet-Rite Cola, though the latter was initially sold as a diet aid, not as a mass-market product [1]; its popularity with the general public surprised its maker, Royal Crown Cola. Sensing a market niche, The Coca-Cola Company decided to develop its own diet cola. However, as the company had a long-standing policy of using the Coca-Cola name only on its flagship product, it developed the TaB brand instead. TaB was produced by Coca-Cola's Fanta division, headed by Fred Dickson. It was introduced in 1963. 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 cervical cancer. In the year 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. 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 capitalization pattern ("TaB") in the logo he designed.
At the height of its popularity, the TaB name was briefly extended to other diet soft drinks, including TaB Lemon-Lime and TaB Orange[2]. In 1993, Coca-Cola released Tab Clear in the US 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 a clear cola that didn't taste very much like cola. 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. 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-liter bottles. TaB Energy is an energy drink released in early 2006. Though sharing the brand name, TaB Energy does not taste like TaB. The drink is currently being marketed towards women.
TaB brands
- TaB
- Cola flavored; also came in Rootbeer, Orange, Ginger Ale, Strawberry, Lemon-Lime and Black Cherry
- Tab Clear
- Tab X-Tra
- TaB Energy
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
- 1960s Tab commercial "Be a Mindsticker"
- New Yorker article on high profile tab fans
