“ILoveTaB.com” mentions in the media

The blog Musings of a Dilattante recently linked to ILoveTaB.com in a post titled Dear grocer: Stock TaB

Even though they call us stalkers here at ILoveTaB, we have to agree – Stock TaB!

As I prepare to crack open the last soda I brought back from Nevada this summer, I have to ask: Why is TaB so hard to find?

I still remember when TaB was hugely popular, you could even get it in 2-liter bottles and find it in Coke machines.

However, I guess when diet Coke really took a hold in the late eighties, people preferred it. I don’t know if people liked the way it tasted better, if they followed the brand they could trust, or if it had anything to do with the infamous saccharin studies.

In case you are unaware, those studies charged that saccharin caused cancer in laboratory animals. What they didn’t tell you was that the dose of saccharin they were administering to those rats would have killed anything. Kind of follows that old adage that too much of anything is bad.

I also seem to remember that when Nutra-Sweet burst onto the scene as a replacement for that evil saccharin, all the sodas jumped right away… with the exceptions of TaB and the diet Shasta sodas. I think the grocery/generic brands also took their time making the switch.

Looking at the side of the TaB can on my desk, they did eventually change their formula at some point, for it now has a mix of saccharin and aspartame.

All I know is it’s tasty. And, once that last can is gone, I won’t be getting any for a while.

So, does TaB have a fan following? Is it enough to get a midwest bottler to start distributing it again? Do former fans of TaB even remember it?

Clearly, TaB does have a following… because a few fans have a long standing website at iLoveTaB.com, which is your basic stalker site… only their stalking appearances of a canned beverage insted of some celebutante.

All I know is I’d love to find some regular supply of TaB. Perhaps I should ask my baby sister in Portland to bring me a six-pack next time she travels this way. She’ll probably think I’m crazy, but you never know ’til you ask!

ILoveTaB.com member Jennifer, aka Miss Pop Rocks, recently mentioned ILoveTaB.com on her blog (September 24, 2007).

Please click here to read the article.

“My name is Miss Pop Rocks, and I’m a Tab addict. I just wanted you to know that. And I wanted you to know that it’s safe to admit that you may be a Tab addict too.

Tab. Just saying the name makes me feel cuter. And thinner. Tab. That delicious manna from Heaven that keeps your waistline trim and comes in an adorable little pink can. Pink!

Of course, loving the totally 80s diet soda comes with its challenges. There are only a few Krogers near my house that carry it, and I have yet to find a restaurant in the Houston area that offers it. During the lunch break at my place of employment, I’m forced to listen to such comments as, “Oh my God, do they still make Tab?�, “Are you seriously drinking Tab?� and, from the younger set, “What’s Tab?� I was starting to feel alone, lost, and out of place.

Then I found http://www.ilovetab.com, a Web site devoted to the joy that is the Tab product. And suddenly all was right with the world again.

According to http://www.ilovetab.com, I am in the company of such celebs as Andy Warhol, Mary Louise Parker, Kellie Martin, Rachael Ray, Tori Spelling, and Houston’s own ZZ Top. In addition, I discovered that Tab has been name-checked and spotted in such films as “Fletch Lives,� “Airplane II,� and every one of the Austin Powers movies. In the novel “Less Than Zero,� by Bret Easton Ellis, there’s a mention of Tab in at least three places, and the drink also pops up in the recent Pulitzer Prize winning “Middlesex� by Jeffrey Eugenides (page 335 to be exact).

I was informed by my Tab friends that despite nasty urban myths to the contrary, Tab does not give you cancer! (Not that that would have stopped me from drinking it.) There are even links on the site that connect you to places that sell super cute Tab tees.

So to my fellow Tab lovers, never fear. The next time someone makes fun of you for drinking Tab, roll your eyes and remind them that you’re not alone. Remember, ZZ Top drinks Tab, too. ”

Thanks Jennifer!

Help share TaB with the world! ILoveTab.com has joined the Worldwide Lexicon Project, a new website that makes it easy for volunteers to translate websites and share them with the world.

If you speak another language, whether it’s Arabic or Urdu, help spead the word by volunteering to translate ILoveTab.com.

(“Devotees go far to keep tabs on diet pop,” The Columbus Dispatch, May 7, 2006 — by Ana Fisher)

Maybe you’re too young to remember Space Food Sticks and Shake-a Pudd’n.

That’s because those food fads, introduced around the summer of 1969, couldn’t attract the necessary long-term market share.

Consumerproduct companies don’t seem to mind. They just roll out the next crazy idea and hope it sticks long enough to make a profit to bankroll the next crazy idea.
Click here to read more…

(“Dwindling supply has TaB fanatics searching everywhere for their cola,” Press of Atlantic City, May 7, 2006 — by Courtney McCann)

Lolly Yocum will travel to the ends of the earth in search of an endangered species: her beloved TaB soda.

The Lansdale, Pa., doll maker has a summer house in Little Egg Harbor Township, but she spends more time traveling the Garden State Parkway trolling for soft drinks than enjoying the summer sun.

“During the summer months, I go on TaB-buying journeys that take me from Manahawkin to Atlantic City looking for my beloved drink,� Yocum said. “No other drink can compare.�
Click here to read more…

First, take a a peek at our ILoveTaB.com Chat Group.

If you cannot find TaB at your local grocery store, your first step should be to ask your store for the contact information for your local Coca-Cola bottler/distributor. You can also use the Local Bottler Finder. Your bottler/distributor can tell if you they bottle TaB, and where you can find TaB in your area.

If TaB is made/distributed by your bottler/distributer, than any market that sells Coke products should be able to order some TaB for you. Usually smaller stores are more receptive. If your market is resistant, it may help to “pre-buy” a certain number of cases per month, so they don’t have to worry about the TaB not selling.

If TaB is not available in your area (check our list of TaB-less areas in the US), I strongly suggest writing letters to your local bottler/distributer and The Coca-Cola Company expressing your disatisfaction. Make sure to contact us – we can often get members of our newsletter to start a letter writing campaign! You can also:

Updated by Natalie 07.11.11

(“Fans have a soft spot for old soft drink–A Soda with a Following,” Pressconnects.com, September 19, 2005, — by Elizabeth Cohen)

Sometimes Broome County runs dry. When it does, Tammy Kocak scrambles. “Recently we drove to Scranton, to check out the Wegmans there,” said the Binghamton office administrator, 43, speaking of one recent shortage. “If I locate a place that has some stock, I’m tempted to buy it all up.”

Tammy Kocak of Binghamton works as an assistant to Broome County Executive Barbara Fiala. Kocak admits to drinking two cases of TaB a week.

Click here to read more…

ILoveTaB was mentioned in a NY local paper PressConnects.com the week of September 18, 2005.

“TaB drinkers would rather people not know. ‘I don’t want to spread it around that you can still get it or where I am getting it, because I don’t need any more competition for the few cases around for sale,’ said Kathi Cook of Binghamton, who has been drinking TaB since she was 15. ‘The other day I ran into someone else — another TaB drinker — at the market. We talked a little bit and then agreed to split the eight six-packs on sale.’

Haven’t we all felt that way?

ILoveTaB.com was mentioned in the King County Journal, a Seattle WA area paper, in the August 11, 2005 issue.

Thanks Anne

Return