On April 13, 1992, PepsiCo launched Crystal Pepsi, a clear cola, in test markets in Dallas, Providence, Salt Lake City and Colorado. Wikipedia’s entry on the drink says it captured about 1 percent of the U.S. soft drink market in its first year, and that production ceased in late 1993. Four more sodas had similarly brief runs.
Crystal Pepsi, Josta, Surge, Pepsi Blue and OK Soda were each on shelves for only a few years or less, and none of them became a permanent fixture. Several have come back for limited or regional runs, but each original run was short. The clear look of the first was part of a wider trend: Wikipedia calls the clear craze a global marketing fad of the 1980s and 1990s, and says a Canadian manufacturer released a colorless cola called Canadian Spirit in 1990.
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Crystal Pepsi: The Clear Cola
Crystal Pepsi went nationwide in the first half of December 1992. Wikipedia says its first-year share was worth roughly $474 million, and that Coca-Cola answered with Tab Clear on Dec. 14, 1992. The Takeout, in a September 2026 piece on Pepsi’s biggest misses, notes a Super Bowl spot set to Van Halen’s “Right Now” and says Time later named the drink one of history’s biggest product flops.
Sales did not hold. Wikipedia says the final batches reached retailers in the first months of 1994, and that the drink has had sporadic limited releases since 2016. Yum! Brands chairman David Novak, credited with the concept, called it the best idea he ever had and the worst executed, in a December 2007 interview quoted on Wikipedia. 8 little rituals from the ’80s and ’90s that disappeared without much notice is a Frenz Hub read from the same decades.
Josta: A Soda From the Mid-1990s
Wikipedia’s Josta entry says PepsiCo introduced the drink in 1995 and pulled it in 1999 because of a change in corporate strategy. It was the first energy drink introduced by a major U.S. beverage company, and its slogan was “better do the good stuff now.” The Takeout notes the drink lasted four years.
The farewell was loud. Fans started a “Save Josta” campaign, and the website savejosta.org, defunct for several years, was reactivated in 2011, according to Wikipedia. The soda has since turned up in pop culture: a Josta drink appears in the 2021 Disney+ series Loki, and an advertising poster for it appears in the 1998 film Godzilla. For another look at things that faded, see 14 boomer habits that are making a comeback.
Surge: Coca-Cola’s Answer to Mountain Dew
Surge, per Wikipedia’s entry, is a citrus soda Coca-Cola developed to compete with Mountain Dew. It started in Norway as Urge, a test product launched April 22, 1996, and reached the United States as Surge on Jan. 13, 1997, in 140 markets with a $50 million nationwide marketing campaign. Its working name was “MDK,” short for Mountain Dew Killer.
Sales slid, and production ended for most markets in 2003. Fans organized online, and Wikipedia says Coca-Cola re-released Surge on Sept. 15, 2014, through Amazon Prime in 12-packs of 16-ounce cans. Convenience stores in the Eastern United States and some Mountain states followed in September 2015, and Burger King restaurants offered it in Coca-Cola Freestyle machines in September 2018. The returns have been limited rather than nationwide.
Pepsi Blue: A Bright Berry Cola
Wikipedia’s entry on Pepsi Blue says PepsiCo marketed it as a “Berry Cola Fusion,” announced it in May 2002 and sold it in the United States and Canada from 2002 to 2004. Pepsi taste-tested more than 100 flavors across nine months, and promotions included advertisements by Britney Spears. The Takeout says it arrived within days of Coca-Cola’s Vanilla Coke.
The flavor divided people, and The Takeout says many compared it to crayons. Sales fell sharply by the second year, and it was pulled from U.S. and Canadian shelves in 2004. Pepsi announced in April 2021 that Pepsi Blue would return for a short run in May 2021. For another look back, see 31 forgotten household items from the past on Frenz Hub.
OK Soda: The Gen X Cola That Never Went National
Wikipedia’s OK Soda entry says Coca-Cola introduced it on April 20, 1994, and aimed it at Generation X with unusual advertising that included neo-noir design and chain letters. The slogan was “Things are going to be OK.” Coca-Cola special projects manager Brian Lanahan told Time magazine the name was chosen because “It underpromises,” a quote Wikipedia repeats.
The drink was only sold in select test markets during the summer of 1994, including Boston, Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Portland, and it was declared out of production in 1995 before reaching nationwide distribution. Sporked says Coca-Cola’s Sergio Zyman had promised it would capture 4 percent of the beverage market, but it barely captured more than 2 percent and sold just over a million cases. For memories passed between generations, see 9 things grandkids remember most about their grandparents. For a family-table angle on the same decade, see 7 signs someone grew up being told to clean their plate at every meal.
Five Runs, Five Different Endings
Taken together, the five sodas show how a short run can end. Crystal Pepsi lasted roughly two years, Josta four, Pepsi Blue two, Surge about six in its first U.S. run and OK Soda about a year. Crystal Pepsi, Surge and Pepsi Blue returned for limited stretches, while the sources describe no return for Josta or OK Soda.
Fans were part of several of these stories. Wikipedia describes the “Save Josta” campaign, the “Save Surge” community that led to the Vault soda in 2005, and a grassroots campaign behind Crystal Pepsi’s re-releases. Soda shelves change fast, but these five names are still remembered decades later.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
