Hello SURGE fans and welcome to the 59th edition of SaveSURGE News! It's the place where the only color we see is green and our thoughts bubbly & citrus flavored.

Sightings Report
There was 1 new SURGE Sightings reported since the last edition of SaveSURGE News in Winston Salem, NC.

Sadly, there were 5 deletions in: FL, ID, MA, OH & PA.

St. Joseph, MN was added but then deleted just 2 short days later.

Currently, there are 169 SURGE Sightings listed. Thanks to all of you who look for SURGE wherever you go!

Rumors Abound - What do they mean?
The SaveSURGE.org Bulletin Board was full of SURGE-related rumors this week. Here's the rundown:

• First, there was talk of a Coca-Cola employee in New York reportedly saying that SURGE will be coming back to store shelves - only it'll be under a different name. Same great taste with a new image. Things were just getting interesting…
  
  
• Next, another SURGE fan posted information regarding a Coca-Cola product sold down in Mexico called Beat. Another fan finds a picture: it's in a green bottle, citrus flavored and most of us feel like it very well could be SURGE!
  
  
• Then, another fan posts that he spoke with Coke's customer service department and was told that SURGE syrup would no long be manufactured. Debate rages on what this could mean. One popular theory is that if indeed SURGE is to come back under a new name, it would be logical for Coke to stop producing syrup under the name SURGE.
  
  
• More talk of Mexico's Beat ensues. Could it really be SURGE? According to a Coca-Cola press release from 10/25/02, Beat is actually related to Mello Yello. It's not the sign of hope that we were looking for.
  
  
• That sign of hope did, however, show up in a post that states the possibility of SURGE is being re-considered in the Lancaster, PA area (woohoo!!!!!).

So what does this all mean? At this point everything's speculation and facts are hard to come by. Coca-Cola has not given us anything "official" to speak of. This leads us to another question: why are these rumors all coming out in the span of one week?

It very well could be that something is in the works for SURGE (or a newly-named version of it). SURGE fans have received a ton of positive publicity recently and perhaps Coca-Cola is starting to catch on (and maybe, just maybe, starting some rumors to create an even bigger buzz???). SaveSURGE.org has been featured in Beverage Spectrum and Beverage World magazines; featured as a "site-of-the-day" on both USAToday.com and Canada.com; even received its first TV appearance on KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, NV. We've even been praised by the co-author of a book about marketing (more on this in the next article). All of this has happened since June!

Publicity about our fight to bring back SURGE is at an all-time high which in turn is making it harder and harder for Coca-Cola to ignore us. The company is currently facing some tough times with its public image. What better way to improve your image than by listening to a large group of their customers who are so in love with their product that they created their own community?

Giving SURGE fans the right to once again purchase their favorite soda could mean a huge boost in public perception for Coca-Cola. Consumers and investors alike could see them as perhaps the largest company in the world to actually care about what their customers want. Whether or not SURGE outsells Mountain Dew or even Mr. Pibb is almost irrelevant when you consider the amount of positive attention Coke would receive from both consumers and the media.

The rumor-mill looks like it could continue to turn for awhile. We'll be sure to keep you posted on all the latest developments.

We are 'Customer Evangelists'
SURGE fans received a very big pat-on-the-back recently when we were mentioned in the official blog of Creating Customer Evangelists, a marketing book co-authored by Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell. The book aims to "take your company's best customers and build them into influential, loyal, and enthusiastic evangelists".

On 7/29/03, co-author Jackie Huba had many positive things to say about SURGE fans and SaveSURGE.org after reading about us in Beverage World. "The campaign website, SaveSurge.org, is better than most community political campaigns..." she wrote. "If Coke were to devise a plan to bring the citrus-flavored, green-hued, caffeine-infused carbonated beverage back to life for its best customers, the buzz would be enormous. Even a plan for ordering the product from a web site could create tremendous word-of-mouse among Surge's thirsty masses. Listen to your best customers and give them what they want? Now that's a marketing idea."

Personally, I find this to be one of the best endorsements the Save SURGE movement has ever received. Ms. Huba is a very well-respected marketing expert and for her to take notice of what we're all trying to accomplish together is just amazing!

A great-big thank you goes out to Ms. Huba & Mr. McConnell for their support of SURGE!

Visit their website at: http://www.creatingcustomerevangelists.com/

Missing SURGE in South Africa
Roland wrote in this week about his long-distance love for SURGE. You see, he lived in the USA for 11 years and is now located in South Africa. His geographic location may have changed, but his love for that fully-loaded citrus soda hasn't. He shares his story in For the Love of SURGE.

David's SURGE Recipe
Take a little bit of LiveWire and a little bit of dnL and you have David's new SURGE Recipe! I haven't tried it yet but this weekend I will take some of my stockpile of both of these fine sodas and see what I come up with. We've already heard some great comments on this one so be sure to check it out, along with other SURGE Recipes in our For the Love of SURGE section.

Poll Results - You REALLY Want to be in the Hall of Fame
This week's SURGE Poll asked you: "Being in the SaveSURGE.org Hall of Fame would be better than…"

44% - It's better than all of these!
14.6% - Drinking Mello Yello
13.3% - Playing 1 on 1 with Allen Iverson
12% - Being on The Price is Right
9.3% - Going to a SURGE-less Disneyworld
6.6% - Dating that girl from Alias

Total Votes: 75

Avery & I are thrilled that being in the Hall of Fame would be such a great honor to you! But, I can think I can see why only 6.6% of you thought being in the Hall is better than dating Jennifer Garner ;)

That's all the time we have for this week. Let's keep fighting that good fight and before you know it, we could be drinking a nice cold SURGE!!!!!! Of course, it may not be called SURGE anymore but you know what I mean.

Sincerely,

Eric Karkovack
Co-Webmaster
www.savesurge.org