The history of TaB
& its discontinuation

The rise, the fade, and the abrupt end of Coca-Cola’s first diet cola — the Pink Pioneer — and why its drinkers refuse to let the story end here.

1963 · The beginning

Coca-Cola’s very first diet cola.

TaB launched in 1963 as the Coca-Cola Company’s first-ever low-calorie cola — a bold idea in an age built on full-sugar soft drinks.

Its crisp, unmistakable citrus-edged taste did something few diet drinks ever managed: it earned real devotion. Across generations, TaB built a following that didn’t just tolerate the diet label — they loved the flavor, full stop.

The ’70s & ’80s

TaB’s moment in the sun.

Through the 1970s and ’80s, diet drinks became fashionable and Americans grew far more conscious of their health — and TaB was right in the middle of the moment.

With its bold pink can and a flavor no rival could quite copy, TaB became a genuine cultural icon: the cool, confident, defiant choice for a generation of devoted drinkers.

1982 · The turning point

Then Diet Coke arrived.

In 1982, Coca-Cola introduced Diet Coke — a wholly different drink that, crucially, carried the company’s own namesake brand.

Coke believed Diet Coke was the product to carry it into the future and go toe-to-toe with rivals like Diet Pepsi — and it poured resources in to make sure that happened. For decades the company sold TaB and Diet Coke side by side, but the lion’s share of the advertising went to the newer brand.

Slowly, TaB grew harder to find — stocked in fewer and fewer places until it survived only in scattered pockets of the country.

A towering store display of TaB 12-packs stacked in a grocery aisle — Wherever it surfaced, the faithful cleared the shelf. Finding a fresh stack of TaB became its own small victory.

The hunt

Harder to find never meant forgotten.

None of it stopped the people who loved TaB. For more than half a century, loyal drinkers sought it out in droves — stockpiling it, trading tips, and refusing to switch.

As Coca-Cola made TaB tougher and tougher to track down, fans simply found a way. Websites sprang up just to locate it; online channels appeared to ship it when local shelves ran dry. The community kept the Pink Pioneer alive long after the marketing budget moved on.

October 16, 2020

Coca-Cola announces the end.

On that day, the company announced it would discontinue production of TaB by the end of the year. For thousands of drinkers, the news was devastating.

Coca-Cola’s stated reasoning: it was reshaping itself around a smaller number of brands and pouring its energy into scaling those — rather than maintaining the many smaller products in its portfolio.

In plain terms, TaB simply didn’t sell at the volume the company wanted. Rather than work to change those numbers, Coke chose to retire it — along with several other brands — and focus on its core lineup and new launches.

But the story isn’t over

“The power to revive TaB rests with us.”

The best way to help is the simplest: sign the petition, make some noise, and show Coca-Cola just how many of us still want the Pink Pioneer back.

Sign the petition → More ways to help