Blast from the Past: Soda Commercials

I was feeling old in my last post, and while looking at the selections of sodas in the refrigerator, I had a minor flashback. Old soda pop brands have been reappearing in the grocery store, lately. Fresca never really went away, and now comes in different flavors now, but it's still sort of a niche product. And Tab has come back, at least to Las Vegas. I'm a big soda drinker, so it is fortunate that I only drink the diet versions. Unless the rumors are true about the various artificial sweeteners. Then I'm screwed. But I'm not sure there is anything worse than high-fructose corn syrup.

I did some searching for classic soda commercials when the old Tab jingle started to ring in my head (probably a side effect of those sweeteners). I found a lot of them, though was unsuccessful finding "RC 100" (RC 100 percent! You'll wonder where caffeine went! RC 100 regular and sugar free!). Here are some of the better ones.






1. Tab - Before there was Diet Coke, there was Tab. What a beautiful drink!

2. Fresca - I thought this soda was gross when I was little. Love it now, particularly the peach flavor.

3. RC Cola - The undisputed loser of the 80s cola wars is RC Cola, which has forever more been an also-ran. But back in the 70s, it looked like they still might have a shot. "Me & my RC" was almost as big as "Be a Pepper!"

4. Shasta - I want a pop! Shasta is these days regarded as half a step above store-brand. But back in the 80s, the had a big push with this ad, which I didn't remember as quite so loaded with beefcake. But there it is.

5. Diet Pepsi - This song, "Now You See It, Now You Don't" is probably the Pepsico's best jingle ever for the brand. Very catchy.

6. Slice - "We've Got the Juice!" Yes, they were toying with 10% fruit juice formulations back in the 80s, and Pepsi was still searching for a lemon-lime brand that would stick. It didn't (we have Sierra Mist now). My favorite slice flavor was apple, which I wish they'd bring back.

7. Dr. Pepper - You can't do a piece on retro soda ads without David Naughton's "I'm a Pepper!" It really was a craze.

8. 7Up - One of the better ads of the bunch, with musical styles through the decades. They ought to redo this one, with 80s, 90s, and 00s music styles.