Surge (soft drink)

Surge

Left: 1997–99 and 2014–present logo Right: 1999–2003 logo
Type	Citrus soda
Manufacturer	The Coca-Cola Company
Country of origin	United States
Introduced	February 7th, 1997 2014 (Amazon-exclusive) 2015-present
Color	Light Green
Related products	Citra/Fanta Citrus Mello Yello Mountain Dew Sprite Sun Drop Urge Vault

Surge (sometimes styled as SURGE) is a citrus flavored soft drink developed by the New Products team at Coca Cola Atlanta in 1997. Surge was first produced by The Coca-Cola Company to compete with Pepsi's Mountain Dew during the 1990s. Surge was advertised as having a more "hardcore" edge, much like Mountain Dew's advertising at this time, in an attempt to further take customers away from Pepsi. It was originally launched in Norway as Urge, and was so popular that it was later released in America as Surge. Lagging sales caused production to be ended in 2003 for most markets, and by 2014 Norway was the last country where either Urge or Surge were still sold.

However, popular fan bases such as Facebook's "SURGE Movement" led Coca-Cola to re-release the soft drink on September 15, 2014 for the US market via Amazon.com "Prime" in 12-packs of 16 oz. cans. In February 2015, Coca-Cola initiated a test market for the beverage in stores primarily in the Southeastern United States, and concluded in May 2015. Some locations outside of the test region have also been found to sell Surge. Surge was re-released to stores in the Southeast, Northeast, parts of the Midwest, and the Mountain States of America in September 2015.

In 1997, Coca-Cola started production of Surge in the United States, with its original whitepaper name being "MDK," or "Mountain Dew Killer." It was developed to converge with Mello Yello as a means of slowing Mountain Dew growth. Coke's attempts to draw users away with divergent products like OK Soda or with similar ones like Mello Yello had not succeeded. Surge was intended to improve on Mountain Dew by using maltodextrin for a longer-lasting blast of energy and with bolder, brighter presentation. Its release was accompanied by a 50 million dollar nationwide marketing campaign that led to initially high sales and popularity. A few years after the release, sales began to slip. Surge continued to be sold in vending machines, bottles, cans and as a fountains drink until its eventual discontinuation in 2003.

While preparations for the US launch were underway, a cry for help came in from the Norwegian Division, who were battling a successful launch of Dew in their market. Because the Surge brand was already registered by another party, the product was launched as "Urge". Local food regulation prevented the bright green color being used, so it was launched with a pale, more natural juice drink look and given a slight orange taste to match the flavor with the color.