Tab, What a Beautiful Drink

Call it brand loyalty. Call it comfort buying. Call it addiction. When I like something, I stick with it. These days my drink of choice is Diet Coke (or Coke Light, if you’re overseas), but for years it was Tab.

It didn’t start with Tab. Growing up, my mom always had a bottle of Diet Pepsi in the refrigerator. My brother, sister and I were strictly forbidden from drinking it, which meant when we did sneak a sip, we added water to bring the contents back up to the  mark they had been at. 

In college, I was broke, but never too short of cash to buy a six-pack of Tab. Diet Coke came out in the 80s, but I refused to switch.  When I moved to my present location, Tab wasn’t available, so the only time I could get any was when I visited family or friends in Minnesota. Apparently it remained available there until Coca-Cola decided to discontinue it altogether, sometime around 2020. I was devastated when I found out. And a little angry. 

I’m a loyal friend, but my loyalties extend beyond that. These days I only buy one brand of jeans. They fit, whatever  the style, and flatter me. Why look for something else? I’ve always driven a Toyota, except for one Honda, and should I buy another car, I expect it to be a Toyota as well. I’m that kind of consumer.

It’s not to say I won’t change for good reason. I did switch laundry detergents when I found one that comes in sheets instead of plastic bottles. The sheets come in a biodegradable envelope, so all in all, it’s much better for the environment. A friend told me about them, and now I’m a loyal consumer to Earth Breeze. And yes, it does get my clothes just as clean as the pods used to.

This isn’t meant to be a commercial, so I apologize if it sounds like one. I’m not profiting from this post in any way. It’s just that these products are good to me, so I come back for more. Arguably, Tab, and now, to a lesser degree, Diet Coke, may not be so good for me. But I like them and remain loyal just the same. Okay, I’ve tried to quit Diet Coke, and maybe someday I will. But not to switch to Diet Pepsi. 

Loyalty is one of those things I’m proud to say is part of who I am. If you’re my friend, I will respect and honor you. If you make a good product, I will come back for more. And maybe write about it in a blog post.

Incidentally, the title of this post comes from an old ad for Tab: “Tab, what a beautiful drink. Tab, for beautiful people.” Here’s an NBC promo followed by a Tab commercial:

Image Credit: Laundry © Marco–stock.adobe.com