Very reminiscient of the intentional devaluation of Crystal Pepsi by Tab Clear (see the second paragraph here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tab_Clear#Post-discontinuation)
People just didn't go for the colorless cola fad that year. Why did "Tab Clear" "kill" Crystal Pepsi, but not Sprite or 7-Up?
The person who tried to copy Crystal Pepsi failed, and made up an excuse to cover his failure.
Doesn't stick = Intentional devaluation Sticks = Brilliant capitalization of the market.
Tab back then was far more popular than today. It was at today's level of Dr. Pepper.