COCA-COLA CANS TAB

After almost 60 years on the market, Coca-Cola has decided to discontinue the TaB brand.

The New York Times reports that TaB is going away amid an effort by Coca-Cola to "retire select underperforming products" by the end of this year. The beverage company announced the news on Friday.

According to a statement by Coca-Cola, plans to streamline the company’s beverage brands were underway well before the coronavirus outbreak, but that supply chain disruptions and changing consumer behaviour caused by the pandemic prompted the company to speed up its efforts.

TaB was originally introduced to the world back in 1963, and its target market were women. The message that it went to market with was that it’s a zero-calorie beverage that would help women to keep a tab on their waistlines.

In the 1980s, when the brand reached its peak, commercials featured women in bikinis that drank TaB and a jingle with the words "for beautiful people" playing.

During the same time, Coca-Cola made the decision to launch Diet Coke. Unfortunately, that meant the end of the TaB craze worldwide.

In South Africa, the brand still has a big following due to the fact that TaB doesn’t contain caffeine.  

Kerri Kopp, group director for Diet Coke, Coca-Cola North America said in the statement that "if not for TaB, we wouldn’t have Diet Coke or Coke Zero Sugar. TaB did its job".

Watch the CBS Evening News video below for more on Coca-Cola’s decision to discontinue TaB.

Image credit: Today Show