Slice Cola. I think we all remember it (and by "all" I mean us old people, and by "remember" I mean have a very slight recollection, mostly due to our age and our brains already being at max capacity with all this glorious pop culture stuff. Some things just have to be forgotten, such as short lived 80s sodas, and math.)
I think we all remember Orange Slice, and of course, Lemon Lime Slice (the OG), and possibly even that punishment we didn't deserve known as Apple Slice (I just threw up in my mouth a little).
But do you remember that there was a Cherry Cola Slice? I didn't. Not one bit. I tried to remember back and visualize a shopping trip with my mom......strolling down the soda aisle. That would have been back in the mid 80s.....years ago....I'd tell you exactly how long ago that was, but you know....math.
I think the funniest part of this old Newspaper ad is that they are touting how they beat Cherry Coke in a taste test. Maybe they should have been looking over their other shoulder, as Cherry Cola Slice was discontinued in 1988 due to the popularity of Cherry Pepsi.
Hind-sight is always 20-20...or 40-40.......or some other numbers?
Product: Aspen Soda
Company: PepsiCo
Years: 1978-1982
Alert Reader Alert! (Wait, huh?) Loyal reader and all around standup guy, Mike Henry, recently sent me an email about a product we currently don't have in stock. That product was one that I hadn't heard of, which in a way, made me feel kind of sad. I like to think I know everything, based solely on my own observations of myself and what my mom tells me, and with two simple words, Mike brought me crashing down to earth.
Those 2 words were: Aspen Soda.
Wait, Whats this now? What in tarnation is Aspen soda? Are you making it up???
BUT I KNOW EVERYTHING!
Mild depression set in for a few days upon realization that I don't know everything. I spent an entire week on the internets, learning about all the things that I didn't know, including but not limited too: Wombats (real), trigonometry (was pretty sure the teacher was making it up as he went along), and now, Aspen Soda.
Aspen soda was an "Crisp and clear" apple flavored soda created by PepsiCo in the late 70's. It was meant to compete with all the lemon lime sodas on the market, which there were many of. For some reason, though, there wasn't an apple flavored soda, and PepsiCo stuck a bunch of money trying to fill this void.
Turns out the reason was that apple soda really wasn't that good. I mean, it wasn't BAD, or anything.....it just isn't something people really want a whole lot of. In the early 80's, Pepsi decided to rebrand this soda as Slice (another failed soda, for the same reason).
Then, Apple soda went away all together, like the wombats did.
(Correction, wombats are still around.)
Here's the Aspen commercial.
I can't believe this is a real thing. I die a little inside every time I watch this.
Every once in a while I remember a product that I swear has been gone from the shelves for years, only to do a little research and find that it does still exist. And I can't bring myself to add it to the self of extinct groceries, even if the only place they still make it is in a remote village in Uganda. Its still out there. So here are a few products that you might think are gone, but aren't.
Slice Soda: I guess this is still carried by Walmart, even though I have never noticed it. But it's not the Lemon Lime soda we remember in the green can, it's fruit flavored (Orange, Grape, Strawberry and Peach). Also, Slice is sold in India, but it's Mango flavored and it's promoted by a Bollywood actress, Katrina Kaif.
Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific!: Nothing screams 70's like a bottle of this strangely named Shampoo. I thought it was gone back in the 70's.......looks like you can still get it at The Vermont Country Store.
Stock up today before Disco makes it's triumphant return.
Kool-Aid Sharkleberry Fin: OK, I'm not even sure where this is still made, but I guess it is. Or at least it was as of recent and you can still find it online. The flavor has been tweaked, but it lives on in name.
Surge: Ok, this one is pretty much dead, but I found it interesting that "Urge", the Norwegian Soda that "Surge" was based on for the rest of the world, is still being produced in Norway. I know, it's a stretch, since the name "Surge" with their iconic cans is no longer around. But look at "Urge"....it's pretty much the same thing, even in label design.
That's all for today, just a short list of some stuff that you guys can pick up for me next time you are traveling the globe and happen to be in Oslo or Bollywood.
