Tab Fans Organize to Bring Back the Discontinued Diet Soda

After Coca-Cola discontinued Tab in 2020, a group of devoted customers formed the SaveTabSoda Committee to save their favorite beverage

Photo: Ramin Talaie/Corbis/Getty

Despite Coca-Cola discontinuing Tab in 2020, a group of devoted fans are holding on hope that their favorite soda will land back on the shelves.

Tab diehards have formed the SaveTabSoda Committee in an effort to resurrect Tab, the diet soda that first launched in 1963. Food & Wine reports that the members of the SaveTabSoda Committee have raised money, carried out "coordinated call days" and launched a letter-writing campaign to bring back Tab.

The group — which was formed in 2020 and became a nonprofit organization in August — details their mission on their website, where they explain that SaveTabSoda was "designed to focus on activities and events intended to convince Coca-Cola to change its mind on product discontinuation."

If they pull off their goal of getting Tab back in production, SaveTabSoda hopes to "work with Coca-Cola to increase marketing and sales of TaB soda so it will be produced for decades to come," per their website.

To help accomplish their mission, SaveTabSoda has created both a Change.org petition — which has over 2,800 signatures as of Tuesday — and an online fundraiser. So far, SaveTabSoda has raised $1,771 for the cause.

Ramin Talaie/Corbis/Getty

Coca-Cola did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment but a Coca-Cola spokesperson told CNN Business that despite SaveTabSoda's efforts, "there are no plans to bring [Tab] back."

They added, "It was a hard decision to discontinue TaB. In order to continue to innovate and give consumers the choices they want, we have to make tough choices about our portfolio."

The company first announced they were discontinuing Tab in October 2020. At the time, the company said they would no longer produce a number of "underperforming products," including the cult-favorite soda.

"This is a golden opportunity for us to accelerate the curation of the portfolio that was an ongoing need, and actually bring all of that to fruition in a much shorter timeframe," Coca-Cola Chairman and CEO James Quincey said during a news conference. "We believe it will set us up with more momentum behind stronger brands as we come out of this crisis."

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Despite discontinuing the product, Coca-Cola noted Tab's significance in the diet soda landscape.

"We're forever grateful to Tab for paving the way for the diets and lights category, and to the legion of TaB lovers who have embraced the brand for nearly six decades," Kerri Kopp, group director, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola North America, said in a press release at the time.

"If not for Tab, we wouldn't have Diet Coke or Coke Zero Sugar. Tab did its job," Kopp added.