The Forgotten 7Up Spin-Off That Was Discontinued Far Too Soon

As some people's soda of sick days home from school and childhood classroom games, 7Up has a big nostalgia factor. While today, 7Up may seem like a standard soda, its past is full of little-known 7Up facts and interesting discontinued flavors. One discontinued flavor that 90s kids might remember is dnL which was released in 2002 and taken off the shelves in 2006.

According to Snack History, dnL was originally released to help 7Up compete with other big-name brands that were adding new and fun flavors to their lineups –- like Coca-Cola and Vanilla Coke. DnL was meant to be a fun mixup of a popular classic. In fact, the name dnL is the word "7Up" turned upside down which puts the drink's slogan "turn your drink upside down" into a whole new perspective. As the official drink of the "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," dnL had a lot of marketing power behind it but somehow still couldn't manage to get enough customers. So what happened?

Despite multiple marketing campaigns and lots of ad dollars, dnL turned out to be unsuccessful and was discontinued only four years after its launch. According to Business Insider, dnL was created to compete with popular drinks like Mountain Dew that were already very successful. This would explain dnL's yellow color and high caffeine content. However, it seems that the soda just wasn't different enough to pull customers away from the powerhouse beverage. As one Redditor put it, dnL "tasted close enough to Mountain Dew to me. Like clearly not Mountain Dew, but close enough to be a generic". So, it seems while dnL was popular with some, it wasn't different enough to gain and hold its own customer base.

According to Snack History, when dnL was discontinued, it surprised fans who thought the drink was an important part of the 7Up's lineup. However, when dnL was taken off the shelves it was immediately replaced with 7Up Plus –- a healthier soda line. So, it's possible that 7Up predicted that future soda trends would move towards low-sugar and low-calorie options and decided to focus on developing healthier sodas instead.

With the nostalgia for the early 2000s getting ever stronger, there have been calls for a few discontinued snacks – like Hershey's Swoops – to make a comeback. The same has been happening with dnL and there is even a petition on Change.org to bring the soda back with the signatures of over 50 fans. While fans are very passionate about being able to drink their favorite soda once more, unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any sign from 7Up that would suggest the discontinued flavor will be brought back.

If you want to experiment with flavors of 7Up, there are plenty of interesting ones to try including 7Up Cherry. On its website, 7Up also has lots of information on the best ways to use the soda to make fun cocktails such as the 7Up Rum Rambler and the 7Up Sunrise. If you're a baker, you can also use this soda as an ingredient to make a delicious and easy 7Up cake, or even mix it with fruit juice and freeze it for refreshingly sweet summer popsicles. So even though you can't try dnL again, there are plenty of other great ways to enjoy 7Up.