Feed the rush, my friends! Surge was a product of the Coca-Cola company from 1997 until it was discontinued in the US in 2002. It still has a very loyal following who cry themselves to sleep everynight and pray to the Soda Gods for its timely return.
The citrus drink was aimed directly as a competitor to Pepsi’s Mountain Dew. Sales of Surge were promising for the first few years, but eventually started to slip. Production ended in 2001, and the syrup for fountain drinks stopped being made a year later. In Norway, though, the drink is still available to this day under the name “Urge”.
After an Internet campaign to bring back Surge generated media attention, Coca-Cola began work on its successor, Vault. They’ve never come out and officially said Vault is the cousin to Surge, but most of the ingredients are the same, and the taste is reportedly similar. Still, Surge purists say Vault isn’t good enough and they want their Surge back. http://www.savesurge.org is a great resource for all things Surge.
I’m hoping to get a Distorted View listener from Norway to send me a few bottles of Urge to compare to Vault. I’ll get to the bottom of this mystery yet!
Here are a bunch of television commercials for Surge. It was pretty clear who these ads were targeted to.
Back in 99 I knew this kid who was strung out on Surge, it was ridiculous. He claimed to be ’straight edge’ (even preached about the dangers of escapism) but would drink, literally, a case of this shit a day. After his fix, he would ramble on like a geeked up crack head about his love for this carbonated nectar and spar with his shadow. It got so bad his mother forbid him from it, but like any good junkie he found was around her iron fist. There were many holes in his bedroom walls (from spastic Surge fulled fits) some of which he hid his stash. This guy spent every dime on the shit, he would bum money & even steal to feed the monkey. This went on for about a year until, his girlfriend dumped him because of this fuck witted addiction. I imagine one day in the not so distant future I will run into him, footless & morbidly obese, giving BJs from his mobility scooter.
i really like vault its definitely in my top 3, probably third, doc. p. is first cherry coke second but if there is something better out there it would be epic j/chi/agoo/u
Hey Tim, I’m one of your “believe-it-or-not” Distorted View listeners from Norway. Found out about the show some weeks ago and find it hi-larious. Now, I’m not much of a soda guy, more of a ale-lover, but I just wanted to let you know, “Urge” (or “Surge” if you will) is alive and well here in the old land of the vikings and fjords. Nothing quenches a thirst like urge after a long day of pillaging. You might want to check out Coke’s website in Norway on Urge:
http://www.cocacola.no/contentstore/no_NO/pages/products/Urge.html
They also got links to other products you might be interested in, like Tab X-tra, a drink exclusive to Norway. Might need to get these pages translated, though. Actually, Norway has its own kind of soda culture. On the west coast they’ve been drinking localy brewed Apple Sodas and Pear Sodas for decades, and many towns make a crazy concoction around Christmas time called “Julebrus” (i.e. Christmas Soda). And, Norwegians have highly differing opinions every Christmas about which Julebrus is the best. Really don’t know how to describe the flavour of that. sugar-nutmegy… something like that.
Anyhow, if I find the time, and that is a big if, I’ll see what I can do about slapping some postage stamps on some Urge bottles for you. I cannot promise you this, so I’m hoping some other Norwegian freak will take the initiative. But, to make up for it I just signed up for the sideshow just now. Love the show, keep it up!
you used to be able to get surge in ireland up to a few months ago until their distribution associate or whatever went out of business i used to drink it quite regularly an old fashioned corner shop sold it they would sell all kinds of crazy soft drinks such as country spring which is an absolutely horrible soda only sold in ireland i hated it and i wouldn’t even torture my worst enemy by making them drink it
Hei Tim!
The urgeness itself is coming your way! That’s right! Got a pack already for you, and will walk it down to the post office on Monday.
Sent you an email right after you sent me one, but I’m guessing based on Friday’s DV show you didn’t open it. So, I’m letting you know again here. Dude, cause of your enthusiasm, I can’t help but hook you up with the fizz, Norwegian style.
Hi, I’m from Norway! I just had to tell you the biggest reason why Urge (or Surge) is big in this country:
It’s because the “kids” (”kids, meaning most hillbillies between the ages of 13 to 33) use Urge to mix with their 96% moonshine! Apparently, mixing the alcohol with Urge takes the edge off the rather sharp taste of the moonshine. Just thought you’d find this an interesting fact..;)
hey tim- great blog! i’ve learned some interesting facts about cola products
jigoo!
The perfect sex beverage?
I think so.
Surge was the greatest soda out there. Pissed me off to no end when they discontinued it. Vault is alright but it’s definitely not the same as Surge.
“Fully loaded citrus soda with carbos”? What marketing genius decided “carbos” sounded more hip than “carbs,” the usual slang for “carbohydrates”? Tag line should read, “Really caffeinated citrus soda with lots of sugar.” Oh, wait, that’s Mountain Dew.