Type | Citrus soda |
---|---|
Manufacturer | The Coca-Cola Company |
Country of origin | United States |
Introduced | February 7, 1997 2014 (Amazon-exclusive; revival) 2015 (Eastern United States) August 2018 (all Burger King and McDonald's Coca-Cola Freestyle machines) | (original run)
Discontinued | 2003 | (original run)
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 first produced in the 1990s by the Coca-Cola Company to compete with Pepsi's Mountain Dew. Surge was advertised as having a more "hardcore" edge, much like Mountain Dew's advertising at the time, in an attempt to lure customers away from Pepsi. It was originally launched in Norway as Urge in 1996, and was so popular that it was released in the United States as Surge in 1997. Lagging sales caused production to be ended in 2003 for most markets.[1]
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 Prime in 12-packs of 16-US-fluid-ounce (470 mL) cans.[2] Following a test-market for the beverage in the Southeastern United States in early 2015, Surge was re-released primarily in convenience stores in the Eastern United States and some Mountain states in September 2015.[citation needed] Surge was re-released internationally in September 2018 in Burger King restaurants in the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines.