Coming Soon: Vault

[Tannerman]

Coke just doesn't give up when it comes to trying to battle Mountain Dew. First Surge. Then all the Mello Yello flavors. The latest:

Coke might launch a Mountain Dew-like drink called Vault, the newsletter Beverage Digest reported Friday. Vault would be a successor to Coke's failed Surge, a Mountain Dew wannabe that debuted in 1997 only to virtually disappear by the fall of 2002.

Over the first nine months of 2004, Mountain Dew was the only major non-diet brand that grew in sales. In 2003, Americans bought 638.7 million cases of Mountain Dew, making it the fourth-most-popular brand in the country.

Pepsi expressed little concern about the possibility of another Mountain Dew-ish product from Coke. "We've seen this movie before, and it's a horror show," declared spokesman Dave DeCecco. "No one else can do the Dew."

[Tannerman]

From SaveSurge.org, a website devoted to brining back Coke's last "Mountain Dew killer", Surge:

Vault Details Scarce

Coke recently announced that their new citrus soda, Vault, would be test marketed this summer. We've seen a potential logo, and a bulletin board user tasted several variations at a Rochester, NY taste test awhile back. Still, we don't have much else to report on the brand. I hope to be able to scrounge up a can of it somewhere and give you all a full report.

One of the interesting aspects of Vault will be how it's marketed compared to SURGE. Coke has been much less flamboyant with their product launches ever since the lavish events surrounding our favorite fully loaded citrus soda. On one hand, I wouldn't expect a big, expensive launch because of what happened with SURGE. However, I can't totally discount the possibility because this is yet another drink meant to take down Mountain Dew. I guess it all depends on what Coca-Cola's expectations are.

It seemed like SURGE was expected to topple Dew overnight, and when it didn't, our favorite soda's days were numbered. If Coke expects immediate results, it most likely won't come cheap. If they decide to make incremental dents in Dew's empire, a more conservative approach may be the way to go.

The details will inevitably start to flow in the coming weeks...

A logo has been leaked onto the 'net... don't know how authentic it is:

[Tannerman]

Vault has been reviewed by BevNet.com:

Vault is Coke's new citrus beverage that "Drinks like a soda, kicks line an energy drink." Coke has spent a long time trying to crack Mountain Dew and this is their latest, most innovative attempt. What do we think? Well, for starters we feel that this product can only be considered innovative if "innovative" is defined as "tastes a lot like Surge." The flavor is actually pretty pleasant -- it's kind of like a cross between Mountain Dew and Surge, with less caffeine bite -- but it won't win any awards for originality. As far as the packaging and branding go, we aren't terribly impressed. It fits the mold of other Coke products;the tactile letter "V" on the bottle feels like something you'd expect from a brand of sporting goods rather than a beverage. Overall, there's not a whole heck of a lot to praise about this product beyond the fact that Coke isn't going down without a fight. Unfortunately, this product's execution is no better than it's previous efforts (we'd have stuck with Surge).

[Dan Beach]

I really liked Surge... and not just because Olen Johnson named a camp game after it!!!