Greetings SURGE fans and welcome to the 88th edition of SaveSURGE News! We love SURGE…and it shows.

Why not show our friends at Coca-Cola just how much you love SURGE? Give them a call toll-free at 1-800-GET-COKE and tell the nice person who answers the phone that you want SURGE back in your area ASAP. You can also contact your local bottling facility by visiting our Coca-Cola Directory located at:
http://www.savesurge.org/surge/help_coke.shtml.

Sightings Report
There were 2 new SURGE Sightings reported since the last edition of SaveSURGE News. They are in St. Charles, MO and Fort Littleton, PA. Note that the Fort Littleton Sighting is an approximate location as it is really in a PA Turnpike service plaza which means it is only accessible to those traveling on the Turnpike.

Sadly, there were 3 deletions in Frederick, MD; Moore, OK and Memphis, TN.

Currently there are 136 SURGE Sightings listed. Thank you SURGE fans for keeping the big list up to date!

URGE in the USA – Part Deux
That’s right SURGE fans we are now reviving the effort to bring URGE to the USA! As you may remember URGE is SURGE’s Norwegian equivalent. It’s still made over in Norway and we’d like to bring it stateside for everyone to enjoy.

The good news is that this time there is no one to convince about URGE. George from Soda Favorites (http://www.sodafavorites.com) is taking on the challenge of tracking down some URGE. Looking around the Soda Favorites site, there are sodas from all sorts of exotic locales (Hong Kong for one) so if anyone can find URGE, it would be George.

SaveSURGE.org is not going to be involved whatsoever in the selling of or profits from URGE. However, we do want to help bring it to America so that SURGE fans will be able to give it a try and so they have a choice when it comes to drinking expired soda. Chances are since URGE is still bottled in Norway finding a fresh batch may be a possibility.

As far as the prices go, George has informed me that it will definitely be cheaper than the SURGE he is currently selling ($19.99 per can, $119.00 per 12pack) so there will be a lower cost as well. In order to help him gauge interest in URGE, we’ve agreed to run the upcoming SURGE Poll (from 3/5/04 – 3/12) asking fans just how much a single bottle or can of URGE is worth.

We will keep you updated on any new developments as they happen.

Radio Commercial Ends Run
The SaveSURGE.org Radio Commercial is set to end its run on HOT 92.1 FM in Harrisburg, PA on 3/5/04.  While we don't have any specific numbers as to how many people came to the site from the ad, the amount of visitors to the site has increased over the past few weeks.  We do plan to run the ad on HOT 92 again in the near future.  Stay tuned!

2 Liter Bottle Auctions for $51
A 2 liter bottle of SURGE with an expiration date of 1999 auctioned off for a whopping $51.00 on eBay this week. Once again we find that the demand for SURGE continues to grow as high prices become the norm.

You can view the auction at:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3663074987&category=13603

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

Coke’s CEO Retiring – What does it mean?
Doug Daft, the CEO of Coca-Cola has announced his plans to retire after 2004. His successor has yet to be named but it is rumored that Coke’s current President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Heyer could be the favorite.

Daft took over the reigns as CEO back in 2000 and has successfully guided Coke through some difficult times. There were the typical lawsuits and scandals that have become commonplace among the worlds’ largest corporations. Daft has put out the fires and under his watch Coke has continued to evolve and improve.

The question that’s raised from a SURGE fans’ perspective is; what does this mean for us? That’s a hard one to answer because we’re not quite sure where we stood with Coca-Cola to begin with. It only seems to bring up more questions.

Whether there are any current plans to re-launch SURGE remains a secret. If there are plans for a re-launch, will it occur while Doug Daft is still in office? Will Daft’s successor have any interest in bringing SURGE back to the marketplace? Only time will tell.

There is so much uncertainty but that shouldn’t be a reason to worry. We simply have to keep our campaign going strong do the best that we can to convince Coke, whoever the CEO turns out to be.

Poll Results – New CEO = New Outlook for SURGE
The latest SURGE Poll asked you: “Coca-Cola's CEO Doug Daft is retiring. Do you think this will help or hurt our chances to bring SURGE back?”

51.6% - It will help. SURGE didn't seem like a priority to him.
29.6% - Undecided
18.6% - It will hurt. Mr. Daft knows about our campaign and now we will have a new person to convince.

Total Votes: 118

It seems the majority of you believe that a new CEO for Coca-Cola can only be a good thing for SURGE. Personally, my hope is that Mr. Daft will find a way to bring SURGE back to us as one last act of kindness before his retirement!

That’s all the time we have for this week. Thank you SURGE fans for rocking our world!

Sincerely,

Eric Karkovack
Co-Webmaster
www.savesurge.org