i just read some interesting articles on "new Coke" and what really happened. it's an interesting story, especially how the biggest mistake in marketing history turned into a miraculous win.

some interesting facts:
--diet coke was formulated to be sweeter & smoother than coke (classic) to appeal to younger people (who preferred pepsi)
--new coke was the diet coke formula sweetened with sugar/HFCS
--diet coke's huge success led to old coke's market share slide, and, thus, the invention of new coke
--pepsi beat (old) coke in blind taste tests, but not un-blind ones
--new coke beat both pepsi and classic in blind taste tests
--in coke's 120 year history, pepsi only outsold it once (in the year of new coke, 1985), and coke classic has increased its lead ever since (though, both, have lost market share over all)

there's so much more to the story though. here are a few links:

(you can also do a search on "new coke" on wikipedia.com)

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/newcoke.asp

http://members.lycos.co.uk/thomassheils/newcoke.htm

http://www2.coca-cola.com/heritage/c...e_newcoke.html

it just occurred to me that coke zero is really "new diet coke"... in the sense that coke is trying to have it both ways... but without the consumer backlash of 1985.

or, to look at it another way, coke zero is really "diet coca-cola classic," and diet coke is really "diet new coke."

it's actually a very savvy move by coca-cola. think about it. right now coke has a diet drink that appeals to pepsi drinkers (diet coke) and one that appeals to classic drinkers (coke zero).

so my next question is... was pepsi one formulated to taste more like coke classic? hmm.

hey there Popologist.... I wrote a feature story about the 20th Anniversary of New Coke last year. You can read it over at this url:

http://www.pww.on.ca/36_newcoke.htm

hey dood! thanks for the article. very good job. i especially liked your last section ("what if new coke never happened?") because you took the story a little further than the others i read.

and it's a good question.

--i mean, what if coke had changed the formula but not told anyone? we'd probably all be drinking the "new coke" formula... but thinking we're drinking the coke of 120 years ago.
--or, what if coke refused to bring back coke classic? pepsi would probably be the #1 cola in the country
--or, what if new coke was introduced as "coke 2000" and old coke just kept the coke name?

i could go on and on.

but the truth is that... the reality... and the mistake are the most interesting story of all. i don't think coke could've orchestrated a better result.
--they got all that free-publicity
--all those people (celebrities and average joes) saying how much they LOVE coca-cola
--coke went from an icon to a legend
--basically, they nuked "the pepsi challenge"... by accident

Originally posted by sodadood:
hey there Popologist.... I wrote a feature story about the 20th Anniversary of New Coke last year. You can read it over at this url:

http://www.pww.on.ca/36_newcoke.htm

[ 05-13-2006, 11:43 AM: Message edited by: popologist ]

Originally posted by sodadood:
hey there Popologist.... I wrote a feature story about the 20th Anniversary of New Coke last year. You can read it over at this url:

http://www.pww.on.ca/36_newcoke.htm

According to Wikipedia:

As of 2006, it [Coke II] was still selling in Yap (one of the four Federated States of Micronesia), along with Coca-Cola C2. It is also still very popular in the U.S. Territory American Samoa where it is still sold in most Coke vending machines.

i wonder why it survived in those places. perhaps they never heard about the backlash in the US.

you mean they are still selling new coke in middle-of-nowhere places?

apparently.

but it's called "coke II" there.

check the link for picture:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Coke2.jpg

i sort of like the "coke" font on that can though.

Originally posted by popologist:
apparently.

but it's called "coke II" there.

check the link for picture:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Coke2.jpg

Can this be confirmed? And if this is the case, why can it not be found on ebay, or that soda store in metro Phoenix import it?

And, according to Wikipedia, it found foreign exceptance?!? How on earth?!? New Coke was brought out in the US and Canada. Though Federated States of Micronesia are loosley affilated with the US.
Off my rant. I'm from Missouri, you have to Show Me.