"We are taking the tough but important steps to identify those products that are losing relevance and therefore should exit the portfolio," said a statement from
Coca-Cola offered buyouts to 4,000 workers this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic, and hinted that more layoffs were coming. The company is changing direction with new products such as
Tab, introduced as a women's diet drink in 1963, was the company's first diet soda and initially was sweetened with saccharin. After the sweetener was linked to cancer, cans of Tab were required to be printed with a health warning label until the company changed its sweetener to Nutrasweet in the mid 1980s.
The soda became an ironic pop-culture icon, appearing in movie scenes like
Tab was overtaken by Diet Coke in 1982 as the company's primary diet cola, but Tab has maintained a "small but loyal" following over the decades, the company said.
"We're forever grateful to Tab for paving the way for the diets and lights category, and to the legion of TaB lovers who have embraced the brand for nearly six decades," said
Tab nostalgia for substitute teachers and mothers drinking the pink-canned diet pop filled Twitter on Friday.
"I'm going to have some VERY heartbroken family members today!!" tweeted
"Now, I'm just waiting for friends who can still find Tab in their local grocery stores," Maryland State Sen.
Coca-Cola also said it would retiring other products, as well, at the end of the year, including ZICO coconut water, Coca-Cola Life and Diet Coke Feisty Cherry, plus regional offerings Northern Neck
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