Seasons Greetings SURGE fans and welcome to the 77th edition of SaveSURGE News! We span the globe for the latest SURGE happenings so that you don’t have to.

Sightings Report
There were no new SURGE Sightings to report since the last edition of SaveSURGE news.

Sadly, there were 2 deletions in Albany, NY and Deep Creek Lake, MD.

Currently, there are 145 SURGE Sightings listed. Thanks to all of you who keep an eye peeled for SURGE wherever you go!

Visit SURGE Sightings at: http://www.savesurge.org/surge/sightings.shtml

Frozen SURGE: What’s the deal?
Quite a controversy popped up this week when SURGE fan Tommy began asking questions to Hank, an automated help system on Coca-Cola’s website (http://www.coke.com). Tommy decided to ask the question, “What is SURGE?” and Hank’s reply was one he didn’t expect:

“SURGE is available as a frozen carbonated beverage in the United States.”

Huh?!?

Tommy posted news of Hank’s strange reply to the SaveSURGE.org Bulletin Board (view the topic at: http://www.karks.com/surge/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=665) and pretty soon SURGE fans everywhere were visiting Coca-Cola’s website and asking the same thing.

Oddly enough, Hank did not always reply the same way. Other times he would give the standard “…you will be glad to learn that we have not discontinued SURGE...” answer that we have been seeing for quite some time. Then, ask him again and he would reply with the frozen beverage answer and vice versa.

This led to a theory by IcePro88 from the Bulletin Board that Coca-Cola may bring SURGE back in frozen form to serve at Burger King, which also serves Frozen Cokes. The excitement had begun. Just think; SURGE could be only a short drive down the street to your local BK!

We at SaveSURGE.org always love the buzz created by a legitimate rumor and so we started asking questions about this situation (to actual humans). While I personally didn’t receive a response stating if this is indeed real, Coca-Cola programmers had Hank singing a different tune as of 12/17/03. He now replies:

“SURGE is no longer available as a frozen carbonated beverage in the United States.”

Which, of course, leads to the question: When was SURGE made available as a frozen beverage on a national level? Sure, once in awhile you would see a SURGE SLURPEE or ICEE here or there but we have never known of any widespread availability.

Convinced that there is no and will never be Frozen SURGE? To complicate matters even further Tommy reports that he received a few replies to his inquiries from Coca-Cola customer representatives telling him to “wait and see” if there is such as thing as Frozen SURGE.

Personally I’m hoping that this becomes a reality. I, along with many SURGE fans across the country, would jump at the chance to have our favorite soda back in any form. If it sells well as a frozen beverage, cans and bottles wouldn’t be far behind. We’ll keep you updated on any new details as they become available to us. Stay tuned…

Kid Caliente Remixes “Shock Tha System”
Kid Caliente has crafted an awesome remix of his instrumental “Shock Tha System” called the “Last Can Remix” and it is now available exclusively at SaveSURGE.org! Both versions of the song are totally addictive (much like SURGE itself…) and frankly it’s hard to decide which one I like better. Be sure to check out both versions in SURGE Multimedia.

Listen to both versions of “Shock Tha System” at:
http://www.savesurge.org/surge/kidc_shockthasystem.shtml

Visit Kid Caliente’s website at:
http://www.illusionz.us/

Tell Subway to Feed the Rush
SaveSURGE.org is continuing to request that Subway Restaurants begin serving SURGE as part of their new agreement to serve Coca-Cola products in its more than 20,000 stores worldwide. We are asking each and every SURGE fan to contact Subway and let them know how much we would like to purchase our favorite soda from them.

There are several ways SURGE fans can spread the word:

You can write to Subway via their website at:
http://www.subway.com/subwayroot/Applications/CustServ/frmCustomerService.aspx

Find your local Subway and let them know how much you want SURGE:
http://subway.com/Applications/locator/index.aspx

You can even call them, toll-free at: 1-800-888-4848

We can make a difference, but we need your help!

SaveSURGE.org Honored by ClickOfTheDay.com
SaveSURGE.org was featured as ClickOfTheDay.com’s website pick for 12/15/03 in their “Anything Goes” category. We are proud of this honor and we’d like to thank ClickOfTheDay.com and each and every SURGE fan for making this possible! Without the support of SURGE fans, this site would not exist.

Visit ClickOfTheDay:
http://www.clickoftheday.com/

Poll Results – eBay helps the cause
The latest SURGE Poll asked you: “Do you think the high prices of many SURGE items auctioned on eBay will help to convince Coca-Cola to bring back the drink?”

69.2% - Yes
30.7% - No

Total Votes: 91

It’s pretty safe to say that the beverage industry, like any business, is all about the benjamin’s (I hate myself for saying that). Money talks and when a company sees its customers spending loads of it for one of their products, they start listening.

Eric’s Sappy Holiday Message
As we are right in the middle of the holiday season, I thought it might be appropriate to say a little something about peace, love and SURGE…

I wanted to share with you something I’ve been thinking about lately as a result of just being a part of this website on a day-to-day basis. Recently it hit me that here we all are coming together and working hard to reach a common goal: to bring SURGE back. We are all from different towns, states and even different countries. We are from different backgrounds. We have different religions and celebrate different holidays. We have different political views. The way we go about our daily lives are different. And yet, we still have come together for something that we all have in common.

I’m not saying that we’re the second coming of the Peace Corps, but I think it’s really amazing to see all sorts of different people enjoying being a part of a community. I’d like to think that each and every one of us could take this as a small reminder that despite our differences, we can all work together and respect each other as people.

When Avery & I started SaveSURGE.org, we never imagined that we would be surrounded by such an amazing and dedicated group of people. The site grown from just a few cluttered pages into, well, hundreds of cluttered pages :) Clutter aside, this site would be nothing without you. I say that a lot because it’s true.

We have made a lot of progress with regards to our goal of bring back our favorite soda. The last 6 months have been especially important as we have made official contact with Coca-Cola and its bottlers. We know that they are checking out the site and are interested in what we’re all doing. We also have a lot of things in the works, including submitting our own plan to Coke that would bring SURGE back for all of us to enjoy.

There is still a lot of work to be done, but there’s no doubt in my mind that SURGE fans are up to the challenge. It is our pledge that we will work bring SURGE back any way we can.

Happy Holidays!

Sincerely,

Eric Karkovack
Co-Webmaster
www.savesurge.org