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Dennis Donovan

(18,770 posts)
Tue Apr 23, 2019, 07:03 AM Apr 2019

34 Years Ago Today; New Coke Introduced

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke



New Coke was the unofficial name for the reformulation of Coca-Cola introduced in April 1985 by the Coca-Cola Company to replace the original formula of its flagship soft drink Coca-Cola, or Coke. In 1992, it was named Coke II.

By 1985, Coca-Cola had been losing market share to diet soft drinks and non-cola beverages for many years. Consumers who were purchasing regular colas seemed to prefer the sweeter taste of rival Pepsi-Cola, as Coca-Cola learned in conducting blind taste tests. However, the American public's reaction to the eventual change to the taste of Coca-Cola was negative, even hostile, and the "New Coke" was considered a major failure. The company reintroduced Coke's original formula within three months of New Coke's debut, rebranded as "Coca-Cola Classic", and this resulted in a significant gain in sales. This led to speculation by some that the introduction of the New Coke formula was just a marketing ploy to stimulate sales of original Coca-Cola; however, the company has maintained that it was a genuine attempt to replace the original product.

Coke II was discontinued in July 2002. It remains influential as a cautionary tale against tampering with a well-established and successful brand.

<snip>

Launch
“To hear some tell it, April 23, 1985, was a day that will live in marketing infamy ... spawning consumer angst the likes of which no business has ever seen."

- The Coca-Cola Company, on the New Coke announcement

New Coke was introduced on April 23, 1985. Production of the original formulation ended later that week. In many areas, New Coke was initially introduced in "old" Coke packaging; bottlers used up remaining cans, cartons and labels before new packaging was widely available. Old cans containing New Coke were identified by their gold colored tops, while glass and plastic bottles had red caps instead of silver and white, respectively. Bright yellow stickers indicating the change were placed on the cartons of can multi-packs.

The press conference at New York City's Lincoln Center to introduce the new formula did not go well. Reporters had already been fed questions by Pepsi, which was worried that New Coke would erase its gains. Goizueta, Coca-Cola's CEO, described the new flavor as "bolder", "rounder", and "more harmonious", and defended the change by saying that the drink's secret formula was not sacrosanct and inviolable. As far back as 1935, Coca-Cola sought kosher certification from an Atlanta rabbi and made two changes to the formula so the drink could be considered kosher (as well as halal and vegetarian). Goizueta also refused to admit that taste tests had led the change, calling it "one of the easiest decisions we've ever made. "A reporter asked whether Diet Coke would also be reformulated "assuming [New Coke] is a success," to which Goizueta curtly replied, "No. And I didn't assume that this is a success. This is a success."


One of Coca-Cola's advertisements to promote the flavor change in Coke

The emphasis on the sweeter taste of the new flavor also ran contrary to previous Coke advertising, in which spokesman Bill Cosby had touted Coke's less-sweet taste as a reason to prefer it over Pepsi. Nevertheless, the company's stock went up on the announcement, and market research showed 80% of the American public was aware of the change within days.

Initial success
Coca-Cola introduced the new formula with marketing pushes in New York, where workers renovating the Statue of Liberty for its 1986 centenary were given cans, and Washington, D.C., where thousands of cans were given away in Lafayette Park. As soon as New Coke was introduced, the new formula was available at McDonald's and other drink fountains in the United States. Sales figures from those cities, and other areas where it had been introduced, showed a reaction that went as the market research had predicted. In fact, Coke's sales were up 8% over the same period as the year before.

Most Coke drinkers resumed buying the new Coke at much the same level as they had the old one. Surveys indicated that the majority of regular Coke drinkers liked the new flavoring. Three quarters of the respondents said they would buy New Coke again. The big test, however, remained in the Southeast, where Coke was first bottled and tasted.

Backlash
Despite New Coke's acceptance with a large number of Coca-Cola drinkers, many more resented the change in formula and were not shy about making that known — just as had happened in the focus groups. Many of these drinkers were Southerners, some of whom considered Coca-Cola a fundamental part of their regional identity. They viewed the company's decision to change the formula through the prism of the Civil War, as another surrender to the "Yankees".

Company headquarters in Atlanta began receiving letters and telephone calls expressing anger or deep disappointment. The company received over 40,000 calls and letters, including one letter, delivered to Goizueta, that was addressed to "Chief Dodo, The Coca-Cola Company". Another letter asked for his autograph, as the signature of "one of the dumbest executives in American business history" would likely become valuable in the future. The company hotline, 1-800-GET-COKE, received over 1,500 calls a day compared to around 400 before the change. A psychiatrist whom Coke had hired to listen in on calls told executives that some people sounded as if they were discussing the death of a family member.

They were, nonetheless, joined by some voices from outside the region. Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene wrote some widely reprinted pieces ridiculing the new flavor and damning Coke's executives for having changed it. Comedians and talk show hosts, including Johnny Carson and David Letterman, made regular jokes mocking the switch. Ads for New Coke were booed heavily when they appeared on the scoreboard at the Houston Astrodome. Even Fidel Castro, a longtime Coca-Cola drinker, contributed to the backlash, calling New Coke a sign of American capitalist decadence. Goizueta's father expressed similar misgivings to his son, who later recalled that it was the only time his father had agreed with Castro, whose rule he had fled Cuba to avoid.

Gay Mullins, a Seattle retiree looking to start a public relations firm with $120,000 of borrowed money, formed the organization Old Cola Drinkers of America on May 28 to lobby Coca-Cola to either reintroduce the old formula or sell it to someone else. His organization eventually received over 60,000 phone calls. He also filed a class action lawsuit against the company (which was quickly dismissed by a judge who said he preferred the taste of Pepsi[13]), while nevertheless expressing interest in securing The Coca-Cola Company as a client of his new firm should it reintroduce the old formula.[10]:160 In two informal blind taste tests, Mullins either failed to distinguish New Coke from old or expressed a preference for New Coke.

Despite ongoing resistance in the South, New Coke continued to do well in the rest of the country. But executives were uncertain of how international markets would react. Executives met with international Coke bottlers in Monaco; to their surprise, the bottlers were not interested in selling New Coke. Zyman also heard doubts and skepticism from his relatives in Mexico, where New Coke was scheduled to be introduced later that summer, when he went there on vacation.

Goizueta stated that Coca-Cola employees who liked New Coke felt unable to speak up due to peer pressure, as had happened in the focus groups. Donald Keough, the Coca-Cola president and chief operating officer, reported overhearing someone say at his country club that they liked New Coke, but they would be "damned if I'll let Coca-Cola know that."

Response by Pepsi
Pepsi-Cola took advantage of the situation, running ads in which a first-time Pepsi drinker exclaimed, "Now I know why Coke did it!" Even amidst consumer anger and several Pepsi ads mocking Coca-Cola's debacle, Pepsi actually gained very few long-term converts over Coke's switch, despite a 14% sales increase over the same month the previous year, the largest sales growth in the company's history. Coca-Cola's director of corporate communications, Carlton Curtis, realized over time that consumers were more upset about the withdrawal of the old formula than the taste of the new one.

Roger Enrico, then director of Pepsi's North American operations, declared a company-wide holiday and took out a full-page ad in The New York Times proclaiming that Pepsi had won the long-running "Cola Wars". Since Coke officials were preoccupied over the weekend with preparations for the announcement, their Pepsi counterparts had time to cultivate skepticism among reporters, sounding themes that would later come into play in the public discourse over the changed drink. After the announcement on April 23, PepsiCo gave their employees the day off saying, "By today's action, Coke has admitted that it's not the real thing."

Company dissatisfaction
Some Coca-Cola executives had quietly been arguing for a reintroduction of the old formula as early as May. By mid June, when soft drink sales usually start to rise, the numbers showed that new Coke was leveling among consumers. Executives feared social peer pressure was now affecting their bottom line. Some consumers even began trying to obtain "old" Coke from overseas, where the new formula had not yet been introduced, as domestic stocks of the old drink were exhausted. Over the course of the month, Coca-Cola's chemists also quietly reduced the acidity level of the new formula, hoping to assuage complaints about the flavor and allow its sweetness to be better perceived (advertisements pointing to this change were prepared, but never used).

In addition to the noisier public protests, boycotts, and bottles being emptied into the streets of several cities, the company had more serious reasons to be concerned. Its bottlers, and not just the ones still suing the company over syrup pricing policies, were expressing concern. While they had given Goizueta a standing ovation when he announced the change at an April 22 bottlers' meeting at Atlanta's Woodruff Arts Center, glad the company had finally taken some initiative in the face of Pepsi's advances, they were less enthusiastic about the taste. Most of them saw great difficulty having to promote and sell a drink that had long been marketed as "The Real Thing", constant and unchanging, now that it had been changed.

The 20 bottlers still suing Coca-Cola made much of the change in their legal arguments. Coca-Cola had argued in its defense when the suit was originally filed that the formula's uniqueness and difference from Diet Coke justified different pricing policies from the latter – but if the new formula was simply an HFCS-sweetened Diet Coke, Coca-Cola could not argue the formula was unique. Bottlers, particularly in the South, were also tired of facing personal opprobrium over the change. Many reported that some acquaintances and even friends and relatives had ostracized them, or had expressed displeasure in other emotionally hurtful ways. On June 23, several of the bottlers took these complaints to Coca-Cola executives in a private meeting. With the company now fearing boycotts not only from its consumers but its bottlers, talks about reintroducing the old formula moved from "if" to "when".

Finally, the Coca-Cola board decided that enough was enough, and plans were set in motion to bring back the old Coke. Company president Donald Keough revealed years later, in the documentary The People vs. Coke (2002), that they realized this was the only right thing to do when they visited a small restaurant in Monaco and the owner proudly said they served "the real thing, it's a real Coke," offering them a chilled 6 and 1/2 oz. glass bottle of original Coca-Cola.

Reversal
Coca-Cola executives announced the return of the original formula during the afternoon of July 11, 79 days after New Coke's introduction. ABC News' Peter Jennings interrupted General Hospital with a special bulletin to share the news with viewers. On the floor of the U.S. Senate, David Pryor called the reintroduction "a meaningful moment in U.S. history". The company hotline received 31,600 calls in the two days after the announcement.

The new product continued to be sold and retained the name Coca-Cola (until 1992, when it was renamed Coke II), so the original formula was renamed Coca-Cola Classic, and for a short time it was referred to by the public as Old Coke. Some who tasted the reintroduced formula were not convinced that the first batches really were the same formula that had supposedly been retired that spring. This was true for a few regions, because Coca-Cola Classic differed from the original formula in that all bottlers who hadn't already done so were using high fructose corn syrup instead of cane sugar to sweeten the drink, though most had by this time.

"There is a twist to this story which will please every humanist and will probably keep Harvard professors puzzled for years," said Keough at a press conference. "The simple fact is that all the time and money and skill poured into consumer research on the new Coca-Cola could not measure or reveal the deep and abiding emotional attachment to original Coca-Cola felt by so many people."

Gay Mullins, founder of the organization Old Cola Drinkers of America (which had lobbied Coca-Cola to either reintroduce the old formula or sell it to someone else), was given the first case of Coca-Cola Classic.


I remember it... blecch!
10 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
34 Years Ago Today; New Coke Introduced (Original Post) Dennis Donovan Apr 2019 OP
I too recall the New Coke Sherman A1 Apr 2019 #1
It had a funky aftertaste... Dennis Donovan Apr 2019 #2
When I did drink soft drinks Sherman A1 Apr 2019 #3
It was briefly in the vending machine at work and one of my coworkers preferred it Rhiannon12866 Apr 2019 #5
That stuff was nasty! MuseRider Apr 2019 #4
Many suspect that the "Classic Coke" that was brought back wasn't Ron Obvious Apr 2019 #6
The secret plan all along... targetpractice Apr 2019 #7
The only thing I ever liked about New Coke was the packaging. Aristus Apr 2019 #8
I know I must have had New Coke at some point when I was a kid. Tommy_Carcetti Apr 2019 #9
& Pat CADDELL, Jimmy CARTER's pollster flamed out again on New Coke UTUSN Apr 2019 #10

Dennis Donovan

(18,770 posts)
2. It had a funky aftertaste...
Tue Apr 23, 2019, 07:57 AM
Apr 2019

...and Coke has been my favorite brand for years (although raised on RC ).

Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
3. When I did drink soft drinks
Tue Apr 23, 2019, 08:04 AM
Apr 2019

it was Coke for me, but I've given those up now and it's just coffee, tea or water anymore. Price got outlandish and wanted to cut out the sugar stuff.

Rhiannon12866

(203,035 posts)
5. It was briefly in the vending machine at work and one of my coworkers preferred it
Wed Apr 24, 2019, 03:15 AM
Apr 2019

We thought she was insane...

MuseRider

(34,060 posts)
4. That stuff was nasty!
Tue Apr 23, 2019, 08:22 AM
Apr 2019

We stocked up on "real" Coke and saved our last cans and drank them during the first Star Trek Next Generation. I have a hard time thinking this was all that important but apparently it was. 🤔

 

Ron Obvious

(6,261 posts)
6. Many suspect that the "Classic Coke" that was brought back wasn't
Wed Apr 24, 2019, 07:54 AM
Apr 2019

I don't really remember when corn syrup was commonly used to adulterate Coca Cola, but I think I remember many people saying that the reintroduced Classic Coke was when that happened and that it never tasted right when it came back on the market.

I don't know if that's true, but try a cane sugar-flavoured Mexican Coke if your grocery store carries it. That's what it really used to taste like. There's absolutely no comparison. Corn syrup soda just tastes nasty to me now.

targetpractice

(4,919 posts)
7. The secret plan all along...
Wed Apr 24, 2019, 09:24 AM
Apr 2019

From the article...

This was true for a few regions, because Coca-Cola Classic differed from the original formula in that all bottlers who hadn't already done so were using high fructose corn syrup instead of cane sugar to sweeten the drink, though most had by this time.


I prefer Mexican Coke with real sugar. But now this is now marketed as "Coca-Cola Hecho en Mexico" a higher cost version.

Aristus

(66,096 posts)
8. The only thing I ever liked about New Coke was the packaging.
Wed Apr 24, 2019, 10:30 AM
Apr 2019

That bright, metallic, futuristic look. It was the '80's. It seemed appropriate.

But, like everyone else, I was glad when they brought back the classic formulation.

I don't drink soda anymore. Sugary kids' stuff. But I was a die-hard Coca-Cola customer until I gave the whole thing up.

(Now, if someone starts a 'New Smirnoff' marketing campaign, I'm gonna be pissed!... )

Tommy_Carcetti

(43,085 posts)
9. I know I must have had New Coke at some point when I was a kid.
Wed Apr 24, 2019, 03:03 PM
Apr 2019

Not having a very discerning palate at the time, I don't think I recognized the difference from the Classic Coke back then.

I actually would love to try it just to see how different it actually was.

Of course, it no longer exists, so.....

(I don't think they even had a sample of it at that giant sample station at Coca Cola World in Atlanta, and they had just about every soda possible there.)

UTUSN

(70,497 posts)
10. & Pat CADDELL, Jimmy CARTER's pollster flamed out again on New Coke
Wed Apr 24, 2019, 08:25 PM
Apr 2019

He lost all campaigns after Jimmy. Became a bitter Fauxster. Jimmy had a best of vipers at his breast.






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