TaB Energy

7-Up isn't the only softdrink reinventing itself. I did a double-take the other day when I saw a can of TaB in the store. In the 60's and 70's TaB was the precursor to Diet-Coke --marketed mostly to women. Now Coca-Cola has come out with a new version -- "TaB Energy" -- a diet non-cola energy drink. (Original TaB cola is still distributed in a very few markets.)

I'm not big on energy drinks but in the interest of exploration I bought a can to give it a try. To me it tastes like chilled cough syrup -- although I suspect that cough syrup would be less expensive per ounce. So the drink itself is -- ah... less than impressive.

The significance of this product is that they're trying to reinvent something which has been long considered dead -- capitalizing on the retro experience -- but fusing it with the newer energy drink concept. While it may not work very well in this particular situation I think that we can expect to see more of this kind of thing, with companies resurrecting old brands and infusing them with new content.