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Happy new year SURGE & Vault fans and welcome to the 18th edition of The Kick and Rush Gazette! It is our resolution to drink more delicious citrus soda in 2006. Vault Rumors Abound Launch Date Could be 2/6/06 – According to a post on Salute to Soda, there is speculation that Vault may begin its national launch on February 6, 2006, just one day after Super Bowl XL. As with any new soda, you generally won’t see the product launched everywhere on one specific day. In part, it’s because different retailers in a given area receive their Coca-Cola deliveries on different days. However, within a couple of weeks of that date it is safe to assume that Vault will be available just about everywhere! Special thanks to our friend Slurm for the info. Vault May Sponsor NASCAR – A few comments left on the VaultKicks.org article announcing Vault’s national launch indicate that there may just be a Vault car driven by Kyle Petty for the upcoming NASCAR season. There are also rumors that Bill Elliot could be sponsored by Vault as well. We have been unable to confirm these reports but we have learned that Petty has been in search of a new sponsor. With the Daytona 500 scheduled for February 19, 2006, new sponsors should be announced soon.
What’s New at VaultKicks.org: Derick Receives Vault for Christmas – What a tasty gift! View photos here.
Eric R. Finds Vault at his Door – Eric shares his happiness to find a package full of Vault at his door and he also gives us his review! Read his story here. Chris Cyco Takes a Vault Roadtrip – Chris and his girlfriend took a trip and came back with a whole lot of Vault! Read about his trip here. What’s New at SaveSURGE.org: The Official Soft Drink of the NHL – Special thanks to surge&drslice for sending in a photo of Stanley C. Panther, official mascot of the Florida Panthers proudly skating by a SURGE ad. At one time, SURGE was the official soft drink of the NHL and was featured in every American arena. Relive the glory days here. Amanda has a SURGE Substitute – Amanda wrote in about a new beverage that has become her SURGE substitute (at least, until Vault is released in her town!). Find out what it is here. Jen X Sees SURGE on the Menu – Jen wrote in with a story that we can all relate to. She was on vacation and saw that wonderful name printed on a menu at a restaurant. Did she get her SURGE??? Find out here.
2005 saw SURGE fans run the complete gamut of emotions. Early in the year, our community continued its work with someone within the Coca-Cola system to bring SURGE back to store shelves. At times, a SURGE comeback seemed so close that we could almost taste a fully loaded citrus victory.
The campaign started in February and seemed to make an immediate impact. Wal-Mart even contacted Coca-Cola and showed interest in SURGE. Things couldn’t have looked better. Then, to the bewilderment of SURGE fans everywhere, we were told that Coca-Cola turned Wal-Mart down. At the time, we couldn’t understand why such a thing would happen. Even with that setback, our community refused to give up.
All the while, rumors were flying around about Coca-Cola’s new citrus beverage, Vault. It was said that Vault was actually SURGE, only with a new name. While we were initially skeptical, as more reports came in we thought that this could be the real deal.
We were so excited by Vault that in July we launched VaultKicks.org as a way to celebrate this new hybrid that “Drinks Like a Soda & Kicks Like an Energy Drink” and to lobby Coca-Cola for a national launch. Well, we got our wish! On November 16, 2005, Coca-Cola allowed us to be the first outlet anywhere to announce Vault’s upcoming national launch in February 2006. Now, fans all over the country are excited in anticipation of having Vault and Vault Zero come to their home town!
Even though we don’t have the original SURGE name, we do have a beverage that is no doubt based on the original. Because of your efforts, we were able to convince one of the world’s largest corporations to bring us back the taste we love so very much. Not just any community can say that. Thank you all for making 2005 such an amazing year! As for 2006, now we get to enjoy the results of our hard work as Vault will be released nationwide in just a few short weeks. Get ready for an exciting year!
1. What made you want to become a part of our community? 2. Tell us about your screen name. Are you really a demolition derby driver? 3. Besides great sodas, what are your other interests? 4. Played any good video games lately? 5. If there was one person in the world you could meet, past or present, who would it be? Thanks to demoderbydrvr for taking the time to speak with us! If you’re interested in the demolition derby, do check out: www.derbypro.com. That’s all the time we have for this week. Thanks to all of you for your continued support! Sincerely, Eric Karkovack
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Things came to a head with our Bring SURGE to Wal-Mart campaign in which so many of you participated. We wanted to get Wal-Mart interested in a SURGE comeback so that the retail giant (not to mention Coke’s biggest customer) could place additional pressure on Coca-Cola to give us what we wanted.
So, as we look back on the year that was, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who helped make 2005 an incredible success! The fact that so many of you went out of your way to write letters, make phone calls, share your photos and stories, your songs and your thoughts means everything to us. A Coca-Cola executive credited our community for Vault’s existence and they were absolutely right. We wouldn’t be here on the eve of Vault’s national launch without all of your hard work and dedication.