Of all the “outside the box” concepts of the 1990s, perhaps the most absurd was when companies tried to make soda “cool.” There was Coke, who unleashed upon the world a drink that was basically soupy Jell-O mixed with Mello Yello called Surge. Pepsi, on the other hand, went toward making their signature cola clear. And both tasted like they sound, disgusting. Frankly, Surge tasted like hot garbage in a can, while Crystal Pepsi tasted like expired Sprite mixed with dirt.
Last year, Surge made a comeback that anyone who braved the so-called drink 20 years ago never wanted. And now Pepsi is hinting at bringing back the drink that people bought a 12-pack of in 1992, tasted one, and threw out the other 11 in the trash where it belonged — Crystal Pepsi.
According to Advertising Age, the company sent a message to a competitive eater named Kevin Strahle, who tweeted it for the world to see:
From Strahle’s Twitter account, it looks like he has been on a campaign to bring back Crystal Pepsi. As to why he would want to bring back wretched tasting garbage is not clear (even its creator thinks it tasted bad), but it seems like he is the kind of person who would demand Zima to return as well.
It remains to be seen if the much-mocked soda will once again grace the shelves of grocery stores, or if it will be like Surge and only to be bought online.
The crystal craze also made for one of SNL’s greatest commercial parodies.
The JOE-DOWN 