Maybe we need to bring back OK Soda—Coca-Cola's failed experimental soda that lasted a mere two years on the market, from 1993 to 1995—if for no other reason than it might feel nice for someone to tell us, as Ok Soda's slogan did, that "Things are going to be OK."
Back in 2017, Rob Beschizza here at Boing Boing explained why OK Soda's postmodern advertising, which tried to sell soda via blasé disillusionment, was a big ol' cringe-inducing flop—chalk it up to the unbelievability of a giant multinational corporation trying to be "subversive," combined with a fruity-citrus-flavored product that was just, well, unappetizing.
Still, I can't help but feel nostalgic for OK Cola, the only soda with its own 1-800 number: 1-800-I-FEEL-OK. Someone on YouTube helpfully searched for and compiled all of the recordings from the 1-800 number they could find, which you can listen to here. The recordings mostly sound like the "deep" late night ramblings of a stoned high schooler from the mid-1990s, but in a kind of cute, naïve sort of way. I don't hate them, and some are downright funny, like the "bird calls," and the "sensitive little poem." I especially like the "coincidences," where people tell stories about what happened when they drank (or failed to drink) OK Soda. One man visiting a friend in Los Angeles refused their offer of an OK Soda, and the next day a big earthquake happened. Coincidence? You decide.
I was curious about what would happen if I called the 800 number—does the OK Soda hotline still exist? I don't think it does, but what I discovered on the other end of the line is its own kind of surreal experience, very much in the same vein as the original OK Soda vibe. The first two times I called 1-800-I-FEEL-OK, I got a voice mail describing a "special promotion for select callers"—I pressed "1" for "callers over 50" and got an offer for a free medical alert device, which would be a perfect pivot for OK Soda, given that their original Gen-X target audience is the ideal market for medical alert devices. But then I called back and pressed "2" for "callers under 50" and got the same offer—ha ha, joke's on me!
Even stranger, I waited a couple of hours and called back a few more times, but now I keep getting a message stating, "You have dialed a number that is not available from your calling area." Maybe they've already run out of free medical alert devices. I'll probably never know! You should call the number and tell me what happens!
In the meantime you can listen to the whole mid-1990s 1-800-I-FEEL-OK playlist here and you can see a compilation of OK Soda commercials here. Now, go be OK!
