When Image Became Everything: The New Coke Fiasco At 25

The Faster Times ^ | 4/23/10 | Patrick Cassels

[Roux]

Coke replaced sugar with corn syrup. That’s why they had New Coke.... Cocacola Classic uses corn syrup but you can still get Coke made with sugar. Some of the Mexican grocery stores carry it and it tastes great.

[RikaStrom]

I want diet vanilla Coke back.

Me too. (sniff, sniff)

The problem with TCCC (The Coca-Cola Company) is that they move at the speed of snail. Pepsi on the other hand moves quickly to block challenges, offer new product, etc.

And I can say this as an alumn of TCCC (way back in the day).

[Clemenza]

To this day Sergio Zyman (who was the brand manager of Coke at the time in charge of launching Coke 2.0), New Coke was a "success" in that it got people talking about the product at a level unprecedented in the company's history. The interest that it generated led to a sizeable uptick in sales once Coke Classic was brought back.

Of course, you can also take these as the words of a guy justifying his handling of the worst product reboot in history.

[PAR35]

Cuban ex-patriot

The writer should probably invest in a dictionary. Or switch to broadcasting.

[tanknetter]

So the idea was to make New Coke so bad, that people would gladly accept “Classic” Coke with the HFCS.

This has been debunked by the fact that Coca-Cola had already replaced cane sugar with HFCS in its formula (the assertion that the formula hadn't changed in ~100 years being patently false) by the time New Coke was rolled out.

Also debunked is the theory that "New Coke" was a stalking horse designed to regain market share from Pepsi by failing in such a way that the public would flock BACK to "Coke Classic" due to the extrinsic nature of the brand. IOW, you never really appreciate something until it's gone ... and you WILL appreciate something lost more when it returns.

My local Costco sells the Mexico-bottled old-formula Coca-Cola with sugar, not HFCS. There's a HUGE difference in taste. Same thing with Pepsi, noted when they recently released "Pepsi Throwback" (sold in Safeways mainly, iirc) again with cane sugar.

Now here's the really funny thing - New Coke's legacy lives on in the form of Diet Coke, which is based on the New Coke formula. CokeZero is the diet drink based on the "Classic" formula ...

[IYAS9YAS]

They still diddled with the formula somehow and I still do not enjoy it as much.

HFCS vs. sugar.

[IYAS9YAS]

Of course, you can also take these as the words of a guy justifying his handling of the worst product reboot in history.

I know is wasn't a product re-boot, but Pepsi Clear sure didn't last long.

[Tolsti2]

Pepsi sucks, Coke and Dr Pepper only for me. IF the place only serves pepsi products, I’ll get mountain dew.

[tarawa]

You can also buy the Mexican Coke in cases at Costco.

[STONEWALLS]

“On the other hand, you can still buy sugar Coca-Cola in the mexican stores.

There is also a Dr. Pepper bottling plant in Texas that still uses sugar.”

....I just switched to Pepsi Throwbacks....they use real sugar...just like in the old days....my local c-store sells it in 12-packs

[Publius Valerius]

What always gets overlooked with New Coke is that New Coke beat “old” Coke in taste tests, which is the main reason that Coke rolled it out. Coke just didn’t expect the backlash that would come from changing what was considered a classic.

Can’t really fault Coke for consumers behaving irrationally. It’s hard to see that type of thing coming.

[varina davis]

Yep, Coke Zero is much better than diet Coke.

[varina davis]

Dr. Pepper regular and diet are great. So is Mug root beer.

[Hoffer Rand]

I WANT DIET VANILLA COKE BACK.

I want diet lemon Coke back. The lime coke is just not the same.

[the OlLine Rebel]

“the surest move ever made”

I’ll say.

[Tolsti2]

The ads about Diet Dr Pepper being the closest to the regular sure are right. Actually pretty tasty. Diet Coke is a chemical sludge fest in comparison, nasty.

[the OlLine Rebel]

1 reason I don’t buy Coke these days - off the shelf: since c.1990 around here, it is seriously lacking in something like carbonation, evidenced either by no bubbles, or heavy tiny bubbles that head like root beer. People think I’m crazy until they taste our local Cokes vs. some other place that isn’t tainted. It’s a bit heavy on syrup, I guess. My cousin for 1, because his home region still has great Coke. I complained to Coke a few times when I noticed this problem suddenly back in college, but no help.

(I only buy Pepsi because my husband likes it.)

So, generally, I only buy Coke from a fountain - restaurants, etc. The bottling around here stinks.

[the OlLine Rebel]

As my dad said, a) did they always fix the order of tasting, and b) did they ever allow them time and water between?

[Enchante]

maybe instead of “replacing” the classic Coca-Cola they should have introduced “New Coke” as an additional product line

I know, big obstacles to supporting both in the market place and in vending machines, soda machines etc. with a limited number of slots for product.....

I don’t think I ever tasted “New Coke” b/c I had no interest in cola drinks in the ‘80s.... although in recent years I do sometimes drink a cola and I DO prefer the taste of Coke to Pepsi! ha ..... but maybe I would like “New Coke” better still on a blind taste test.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Approximately when did HFCS replace sugar, then? If it was virtually the same time, then the conspiracy could have some validity. If it was significantly earlier, then not at all.