Greetings SURGE fans and welcome to the 83rd edition of SaveSURGE News! We’re almost 2 years old…yet we still feel like newborns.

Make sure you call Coca-Cola toll free at 1-800-GET-COKE to let them know how much you miss SURGE. To find a local Coca-Cola facility near you, visit our Coca-Cola Directory located at: http://www.savesurge.org/surge/help_coke.shtml

Sightings Update
There has been 1 new SURGE Sighting reported since the last edition of SaveSURGE News. It is in Davenport, IA.

Sadly, there were 4 deletions in Scottsdale, AZ; Paramus, NJ; Ephrata, PA and Corpus Christie, TX.

Currently, there are 140 SURGE Sightings listed. Thanks to all of you who still look for SURGE!

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

SaveSURGE.org Turns Two
On February 1st, 2004 SaveSURGE.org will celebrate its second birthday. What started out as a 5 page mini-site back in 2002 has now grown to an almost 400 page community. If someone had told Avery & I two years ago that SaveSURGE.org would still be around in 2004 and still continuing to grow, we would have told you to stop drinking that spiked Mountain Dew!

Personally, I’m amazed by the great community of SURGE fans and their contributions to the site on a daily basis. Some of you were here two years ago and some of you just found us yesterday. All of you have made a difference not only in the fight to bring SURGE back but in the lives of two webmasters as well.

Whenever I’m checking out the messages on the Bulletin Board and I read about several of you collecting signatures for a local SaveSURGE petition or writing letters to your bottler or making phone calls, etc. I feel so proud to be a part of this site. Whenever I read through the countless positive e-mails and the unbelievably creative submissions to the site we receive I know that Avery & I did the absolute right thing when we started the site back in 2002.

It’s difficult to put all of this into words because it is an emotional thing for me. I think that when something like this has lasted for 2 years and has continued to grow it shows the world that this is way more than a fad. It shows that we are serious and dedicated to our cause. Frankly, we wouldn’t have done any of this without each and every one of you.

There is still a lot of work that must be done to fully convince Coca-Cola and its bottlers to bring back the soda we all love. However, it is very clear that we do have their attention. They know who we are and they enjoy visiting the site.

In fact, I had a brief telephone conversation this week with Scott Williamson, who is the Head of Media Relations for Coca-Cola. I called him to inquire about the interview that we were going to do last fall (more on that in a minute). He said something incredibly nice and every one of you deserves credit for it. Mr. Williamson told me that he wished every consumer had the same loyalty and passion for their products as we do. I take that as one of the ultimate compliments because Coca-Cola obviously has a lot of dedicated and passionate fans.

Thank you SURGE fans for two wonderful years! We are on the brink of reaching our goal and I truly believe that it’s only a matter of time before we are all drinking that fully loaded citrus soda once again.

Let’s bring it back!

Coca-Cola Interview Update
As for the interview, Mr. Williamson said that he was hoping to some official news about Coca-Cola’s position on SURGE before he spoke with us. He also said that if and when something does happen regarding SURGE, we will be among the very first to know! As of this newsletter, the company’s official stance on SURGE has not changed from the “we make the syrup, it’s up to the bottlers to make it available” line that we are accustomed to. However, all of this leads me to believe that as we speak, Coca-Cola is carefully considering what to do with SURGE. We just have to keep the pressure on and make sure they know how much we want our SURGE back.

Super Sunday – It’s more than football this year!
Sure, the Panthers and Patriots will be battling it out on the football field but do you really need to watch the 6 hours of pregame shows? Why not spend some of your Sunday checking out SaveSURGE.org for some just as important super celebrations???

First off, as you already know February 1st is our second birthday. As such, we are going to announce the finalists for the SaveSURGE.org Birthday Greetings contest. We will place the 5 best entries up on the site and we’re going to ask you to cast your vote to determine the 3 prize-winners.

February 1st is also SaveSURGE.org Hall of Fame induction day! Check out the profiles of the newest members and find out why they are Hall of Fame material.

Then, cheer for your favorite team in the Super Bowl! This will be a Sunday for the ages :)

Visit the SaveSURGE.org Hall of Fame at:
http://www.savesurge.org/surge/halloffame/index.html

Radio Commercial Update
The SaveSURGE.org radio commercial that will run on HOT 92.1 FM in Harrisburg, PA is beginning to take shape. The text has been written and we are getting ready to record! The 30 second spot will run twice per weekday between 3-10PM eastern during the last week in February and the first week in March.

As if that wasn’t cool enough, we recently heard from a SURGE fan named Halim who hosts a show at a college station (91.3 FM, WXAC) in nearby Reading, PA who has pledged to run our ad during his show! You can visit Halim’s website at:
http://www.screamingsoftlyradio.com/

Once the commercial has been recorded and finalized we will be posting it up on the site for everyone to enjoy!

12 Pack Auctions for $86.00
A 12 pack of delicious (and expired) SURGE recently went up for auction on eBay and sold this week for $86.00. While that isn’t the highest price we’ve seen, it’s still more than most fine wines!

Check out the auction at:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3656364517&category=13604

See more SURGE auctions in our $URGE on eBay section:
http://www.savesurge.org/surge/special_ebay.shtml

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!

That’s all the time we have for this week. Poll results for this week’s poll will be published in the next edition of SaveSURGE News because we are running the current poll for an extra day to accommodate the Birthday Greetings contest voting.

Thank you SURGE fans for two outstanding years!

Sincerely,

Eric Karkovack
Co-Webmaster
www.savesurge.org