Hello there SURGE lovers and welcome to the 44th edition of SaveSURGE News! Compared to SURGE, other sodas are just green with envy.

Sightings Report
There were 5 new SURGE Sightings reported since the last edition of SaveSURGE News. They are in: GA (2), FL, KY & VA.

Sadly, there were 4 deletions. They are in: FL, IA, MA & NJ.

Currently, there are 182 SURGE Sightings listed. Thanks to everyone who's sent in a Sighting!

Let's Bring URGE to America
We at SaveSURGE.org strive to leave no stone unturned. Ralph is a very dedicated SURGE fan and feels the same way. He wrote to us and asked if there was any chance of bringing SURGE's Norwegian buddy, URGE to the good old USA. His request got the wheels turning.

There is perhaps one man who can help us. His name is Danny and he is the proprietor of a wonderful company called Real Soda (www.realsoda.com). His company specializes in gourmet, hard-to-find and nostalgic sodas sold in glass bottles. He's the man who has the connections to bring URGE to America! But, we need to show him that importing URGE will be worth his while. We at SaveSURGE.org want to give SURGE fans a chance to purchase this great soda but it will take some convincing on our part.

That's why we're asking you, loyal SURGE fans to logon to the Real Soda Message Board URGE topic we've created:
http://www.realsoda.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=26

Tell Danny that you need URGE! Tell him you love his Real Soda in real glass bottles. Hey, maybe even purchase something from his site as a gesture of good will. If we show him that we're serious and that we really want URGE, he just might import some, just for us!!!!

URGE/SURGE Publicity Continues
The recent AP article about the frivolous lawsuit against the Coca-Cola Company in Sweden has continued to raise awareness of SURGE, its Norwegian cousin URGE and SaveSURGE.org.

In case you missed it, the case comes from a family with the last name Urge who decided to try and have a Swedish court repeal Coke's trademark of the name, as they did not want their last name associated with a soft drink. The Swedish court eventually ruled in favor of Coke.

Since the article came out on 4/15/03, SaveSURGE.org has received over 11,000 page views (meaning, our front page counter went up by 11,000+)! We have also received a lot of e-mails, the majority of them positive.

The article was also found on a few more websites since the last newsletter. Among them are CourtTV.com, FindLaw.com and even translated into French by a site called Le Lezard.

This recent publicity has brought many new SURGE fans to the site and will no doubt make our chances of bringing that green goodness back even better.

Sprite Tropical Remix Debuts
In yet another effort to extend one of their core brands, Coca-Cola has released Sprite Tropical Remix. As with other recently released sodas such as dnL, Vanilla Coke and Pepsi Blue, Sprite Tropical Remix is only available in 20oz. bottles for the time being. It will no doubt be sold in cans and 2 liter bottles in the coming months.

As for the taste, the official website www.spriteremix.com claims that the new beverage contains the original Sprite "lymon" flavor with the additions of strawberry and pineapple.

A friend and I each sampled a 20oz. bottle over the weekend and I have to say that we were both disappointed. When the bottles were first opened, a very strong, fruity aroma hit the air. That strong odor was followed up by an equally strong, sometimes overpowering, taste. I didn't know that Tropical Remix contained the strawberry and pineapple flavors until I visited the website and to be honest I could not taste either in the soda. In a span of about three hours my friend and I failed to even finish half of our bottles. Yet, the taste lingered on for hours after that.

SaveSURGE.org Hall of Famer Shepard Ritzen also tried Sprite Tropical Remix and had this to say:

"It tastes like sprite, mixed with a kiwi-strawberry flavor. It is available here in Philly in 20 oz bottles.

Why do they have the $ or time to make this, and not bring back Surge? A question we ponder with every new marketed beverage. The packaging is awful...the clear sprite bottle, a red top, and the soda is clear like sprite. The label is basically clear, with a stream of yellow and red 'bubbles' behind the following text: The sprite logo looks the same, (white w/ blue shadow + lemon for the "I") with 'tropical' above it in a techno/computer font, and the word "remix" in blue bold right below the 'sprite,' in a font-hybrid of 'sprite" and "tropical.'"

Shepard also went on to say that the new drink "tastes like a sparkling Fruitopia" and that he "won't be buying another bottle".

It appears that both Coke and Pepsi have become more fixated with the color and packaging of their new beverages rather than focusing on taste. Pepsi Blue was a disaster and is apparently already slated to be discontinued in some areas once the current stock runs out. Sprite Tropical Remix seems to have won a few fans on BevNet.com's BevBoard, but it remains to be seen if this new soda will catch on with the general public.

This trend of brand-extensions will continue this summer with the releases of Mountain Dew Live Wire which is supposed to have an orange flavor and the potentially disastrous concoction of Pepsi Vanilla.

Have you tried Sprite Tropical Remix? We'd love to know what you think. E-mail us your review at surge@savesurge.org

SaveSURGE.org Bottler of the Week
My beloved Philadelphia Flyers have finally gotten the monkey off their backs and moved past the first round of the NHL playoffs this week (sorry Leafs fans!). You know what would make this even better? If the good people of Philly could enjoy some SURGE, of course! Let's let the folks at the Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Company know that SURGE is a staple of the Philly food scene, just like Geno's and Tastykake.

The Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Company
725 E. Erie Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19134
E-Mail: info@phillycoke.com
Web: http://www.phillycoke.com

For your convenience we've provided a form letter that you can just print, sign and mail on our How You Can Help page.

Would you like your local Coca-Cola bottler to be the next SaveSURGE.org Bottler of the Week? If so, e-mail us your name, hometown, zip code and any bottler information you might have (it's ok if you don't know who your bottler is, we should be able to locate it for you) to us at: surge@savesurge.org.

Poll Results: dnWHAT?
In the latest SURGE Poll, we asked you which is better, SURGE or that new-fangled dnL? Here's what you had to say:

57.8% What the hell is dnL?
31.8% SURGE is better
5.7% dnL is better
4.5% Both are equally good

Total Votes: 242

I guess 7up needs to do some more marketing!

That's all the time we have for this week. Let's bring it back!!!!

Sincerely,

Eric Karkovack
Co-Webmaster
www.savesurge.org