Soda companies love to follow the blueprint created by fast-food chains like McDonald’s and Burger King.
Those companies will occasionally remove something from the menu only to bring it back to spark more interest at a later date. Sometimes the item was a limited-time offer in the first place, and in other cases, it was a menu item that grew a bit tired.
Related: McDonald’s brings back unexpected breakfast item after 6 years
But as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. McDonald’s bagel breakfast sandwiches were never huge sellers, but when they went away, there was an outcry.
Though customers may not order a certain item very often, they like it being there for the day they do feel like eating it.
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McDonald’s has played this game with the McRib for decades. You would think that a sandwich made out of pork scraps would not be a giant draw, but because it comes in and out of availability on a predictable schedule, it has become a bit of a phenomenon.
Consumers get especially upset when they think something is coming back and that ends up not happening. That’s the case with a popular Pepsi drink that has been scheduled for a 2025 revival.
A Mountain Dew favorite won’t return
Mountain Dew stopped making its Game Fuel: Citrus Cherry flavor last year. It was widely expected to be brought back, and the company had even confirmed the return.
That’s not going to happen:
“MTN Dew Game Fuel: Citrus Cherry is no more! While this soda was on Pepsi’s internal release calendar for 2025 at the beginning of the year, multiple sources have now reported the return has been canceled,” the SodaSeekers Instagram page shared.
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Some fans were upset at the change.
“This is so devastating because we were really looking forward to finally getting it as a Zero Sugar version. The upcoming Trolli flavor seems close enough though, so maybe they’ll bring Citrus Cherry back another time,” @mnmtwinz wrote.
@mamcinch was disappointed as well.
“This is the worst news! Cherry Citrus Game Fuel is literally the best flavor,” they posted.
Others just seemed surprised.
“So strange considering it seems to sell really well, too,” added @nolanvoid_13.
PepsiCo has big plans for Mountain Dew
PepsiCo (PEP) CEO Ramon Luis Laguarta did not speak about Game Fuel: Citrus Cherry, but he did comment on another Mountain Dew franchise in response to a question during his company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
“Baja Blast is a big part of our strategy to make Mountain Dew a bigger contributor to our growth in beverages. It’s a large franchise. It’s almost $1 billion already between our away from home and our retail business in the neighborhood of $1 billion,” he shared.
Laguarta has big plans and expectations for Mountain Dew.
“We see it is incremental in driving penetration from Mountain Dew with new — especially with Gen Zs and especially in parts of the country where our core Mountain Dew is less developed. So we see a very good incrementality for us, and we will continue to invest in Baja Blast is one of our bets for the year,” the CEO explained.
Related: Pepsi makes major change that will anger some customers
He also expects PepsiCo to invest heavily in this specific Mountain Dew segment.
“It’s continuing the development of Baja Blast. We’ll have it for Super Bowl, and there’s a whole program throughout the year to continue to develop this platform,” he added. “I think it’s sustainable. It’s incremental. It brings new consumers into the franchise. So that’s regarding Baja Blast.”
