10 iconic products that brands brought back from the dead

Screengrab from elithecat on YouTube

This week, Pepsi announced that it was bringing back Crystal Pepsi, a popular drink from the 1990s, for one last time. But it’s hardly the first brand to bring back a product from the dead.

Appealing to nostalgia — that yearning for yesteryear — has emerged as a strategic and highly effective marketing technique in recent years, with marketers of all stripes rolling out comebacks for classic and retro products.

Here are some of the most welcome branded product comebacks in recent history:

1. Crystal Pepsi

Pepsi/YouTube

Crystal Pepsi ruled the shelves in the U.S. in the early ‘90s, but by 1994, the proliferation of countless copycats, including Coca-Cola’s Tab Clear, had saturated the colorless soda category.

Pepsi officially renewed the short-lived soda last summer, inspired by "overwhelming fan demand." The brand had also offered Crystal Pepsi through a sweepstakes it held in 2015, but the 2016 initiative represented a broader retail push, for a limited time.

This summer, the soda will be returning to shelves "for one final time," according to Pepsi, becoming available widely on August 14.

2. Coca-Cola Surge

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola originally introduced Surge in 1996, but took it off the market in 2003. After a successful year-long pilot program on Amazon, the company re-introduced the product -- created in the 1990s to compete with Pepsi’s Mountain Dew – across select stores in 2015.

The comeback was in response to a huge fan movement online called the Surge Movement, which lobbied for the company to bring back their favorite drink. The brand eventually listened, using the relaunch as an opportunity to not just appeal to past consumers, but also recruit new fans through the soda’s engaged and passionate Facebook group community.

"Surge superfans have amazing stories to tell and have been so instrumental in bringing back Surge," said Kimberly Paige, vice president, Sprite and Flavors, Coca-Cola North America. "But younger, variety-seeking consumers are also intrigued by this brand because to them it’s new and different."

3. MillerCoors Zima

Zima

Zima was also a part of the "clear craze" of the 1990s, in the ranks of Crystal Pepsi and Tab Clear – except with an alcoholic kick. The clear malt liquor from MillerCoors hit the market in 1993, enjoyed a swift rise and then faded into eventual oblivion, being pulled off from shelves in 2008. It returned to stores this July 4 weekend for a limited time.

Zima’s return comes on the heels of a resurgence in the alcoholic soda category in recent years,  with brands including Mike’s Hard Lemonade and AB InBev’s Best Damn Cherry Cola leading the charge.

The comeback is an obvious nostalgia play for the brand, with the ad campaign touting its return full of ’90s references -- everything from Jnco jeans to frosted tips.

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