Simba was a sugar-sweetened, lemon-flavored citrus "thirst-quenching" soft drink created by The Coca-Cola Company. The drink was named "Simba" (meaning "lion") in the Bantu language Swahili. The soft drink was heavily researched, test marketed in 1968, introduced nationally in 1969 but ultimately withdrawn in 1972 after sales did not reach expectations.
Trademarks
According to the United States Patent Office, "Simba" was trademarked by The Coca-Cola Company on January 23, 1968, as a trade name for "soft drink syrup and beverage made therefrom". The trademark was renewed on September 10, 1988, but expired on May 16, 2009.[1]
"Thirst quenching" flavor profile
After more than a year of market research,[2] the Coca-Cola Company determined there was a void in the kinds of soft drink beverages then available – the category did not have a formula that was "a pure thirst quencher".[3]