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Old Coke, New Coke, Woke Coke, Broke Coke
American Thinker ^ | 9 May, 2021 | William Sullivan

Posted on 05/09/2021 4:13:07 AM PDT by MtnClimber

Almost 40 years ago, brand-loyal consumers were willing to help Coke when it made a big mistake but Coke’s latest mistake isn’t getting the same response.

By the time the Cola Wars really heated up in the 1980s, Coca-Cola had perennially enjoyed the upper hand over Pepsi in a rivalry that dated to the dawn of the twentieth century. In 1975, however, Coke began to feel threatened by Pepsi, due to a marketing ploy -- “the Pepsi Challenge.” It was a blind taste test to show that “more people preferred Pepsi over Coke.”

Interestingly, this wasn’t just a gimmick. Internal research at Coca-Cola confirmed that when the brand association was extracted from the equation, “consumers preferred Pepsi,” with its “sweeter, more syrupy flavor.”

In one of the most famous business decisions in modern history, Coca-Cola reacted to what they believed to be consumer sentiment in 1985. People were “in love with the notion of Coca-Cola, but they weren’t necessarily drinking Coca-Cola” to the extent they had been before. So, it changed the signature formula of the drink to taste more like Pepsi, with the new concoction becoming known as “New Coke.”

SNIP

As anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to American culture should easily recognize, it’s not effete, health-conscious, coastal leftists that have been bolstering Coke’s market capitalization these past decades. But somehow, is it possible that internal corporate research has suggested to a few poor decision-makers at Coca-Cola that its embarrassing prostrations toward effete coastal leftists are the path to more people drinking Coke?

I have difficulty believing that. More likely, as Daniel Greenfield observes, Coke is destroying the pro-America brand association that it had been building for over a century because “it’s afraid” of the political forces aligning against it.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Society
KEYWORDS: communism
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1 posted on 05/09/2021 4:13:07 AM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 05/09/2021 4:13:34 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Woka-Cola - the greatest sales pitch Pepsi ever came up with.


3 posted on 05/09/2021 4:19:41 AM PDT by alloysteel ( Cows don't give milk. You have to work for it.)
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To: MtnClimber
I have been analyzing companies for my entire career and can readily admit that the only ones who really know what is going on in a company are those in the C-Suite.

That said, it appeared that Coke was being influenced by Woke internal forces led by their now removed General Counsel, Bradley Gayton. He was a hard-core "diversity" proponent and was likely also having his ear bent by Stacey Abrams.

4 posted on 05/09/2021 4:24:12 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: MtnClimber

If I wanted to work at Coca Cola, would I need to show a photo ID to get in?

What about Delta Airlines?

Asking for a friend...


5 posted on 05/09/2021 4:25:03 AM PDT by IncPen ("Inside of every progressive is a Totalitarian screaming to get out" ~ David Horowitz)
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To: MtnClimber

Still wondering if Woka Cola got one or more quid pro quos from the federal and/or state governments for doing this...


6 posted on 05/09/2021 4:26:53 AM PDT by mewzilla (Those aren't masks. They're muzzles. )
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To: MtnClimber

Let me quickly add that Coke also appears to be greatly influenced by China/CCP due to their expansion plans in China. The potential of the Chinese market dwarfs the U.S. market (China’s population is 4 times that of the U.S.).


7 posted on 05/09/2021 4:34:08 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: MtnClimber

They will need to hire all black lawyers to capture the overweight community chick market. You know them buy (by) their 2000 kal fountain drinks and multi burger fists.


8 posted on 05/09/2021 4:37:47 AM PDT by Jumper
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To: MtnClimber

No more coke for me. Ironically, I purchased 4 6 bottle packs literally the day before the polar bear commercial dropped. I’ll be rationing my intake because I’ll never buy it again.
I love coke, but telling me to be less white is so insulting, I will never purchase coke again.
#GetWokeGoBroke


9 posted on 05/09/2021 4:37:53 AM PDT by WWG1WWA (Beware the fury of a patient man. -John Dryden )
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To: MtnClimber

The last Coke I bought was Mexican Coca-Cola sweetened with natural sugar. That was years ago. The only sweetened soft drink for me these days is and occasional Fever Tree or Gosling ginger beer.


10 posted on 05/09/2021 4:52:54 AM PDT by IndispensableDestiny
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To: MtnClimber

.


11 posted on 05/09/2021 4:55:30 AM PDT by sauropod (Chance favors the prepared mind.)
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To: MtnClimber
consumption of the sugary stuff has been on a steady decline in recent decades

Easy - Coke needs to rebrand itself as a toilet cleaner (about all it's good for):

B82-AA3-A7-A57-C-44-DE-8585-E5-AAEA8986-CA
free screenshot

0968813-D-2-C8-E-4635-BE91-0-B72-CB2-EB3-A7

12 posted on 05/09/2021 4:55:31 AM PDT by Bon of Babble (Rigged Elections have Consequences)
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To: IndispensableDestiny

I love Fever Tree - but it doesn’t like me.

I read up on quinine and found out if it causes constant diarrhea to discontinue drinking it immediately.

Haven’t had one since (unfortunately).


13 posted on 05/09/2021 4:56:43 AM PDT by Bon of Babble (Rigged Elections have Consequences)
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To: MtnClimber

The fact that a huge company like Coke hired Bradley Gayton, a subpar lawyer from a bottom tier law school who can’t even be bothered to correct the errors on his Linkedin page, as its chief counsel tells us all we need to know about Coke. I don’t drink many soft drinks, but when I do it’s now Dr. Pepper.


14 posted on 05/09/2021 5:05:40 AM PDT by KevinB (''... and to the Banana Republic for which it stands ...")
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To: MtnClimber

15 posted on 05/09/2021 5:15:52 AM PDT by polymuser (A socialist is a communist without the power to take everything from their citizens...yet.)
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To: MtnClimber

For years both of my big sisters who are doctors, have urged me to curb my 4 six packs of 16 ounce bottles per week Coke Zero habit. I have drank Coke or Diet Coke or Coke Zero at about that rate for at least 40 years.

Well, no longer. They revealed themselves to now be Woca Cola and they lost my business forever. I have now discovered several kinds of flavored water, carbonated flavored water and sugar free Lemonade I really like. I don’t miss them. I wish them all the worst.


16 posted on 05/09/2021 5:17:29 AM PDT by FLT-bird
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To: KevinB

The “new coke” story is interesting. Have you wondered why there are two diet cokes; diet coke and coke zero. When coke first made a diet coke they used a different cola formula than coke because it worked better with available artificial sweetners. Since people seemed to love diet coke they thought they would love it even more if they used sugar instead of artificial sweetner, and that was “new coke”. They eventually made a diet cola using newer artificial sweetner and original coke formula and that is coke zero.


17 posted on 05/09/2021 5:18:52 AM PDT by ozarker
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To: MtnClimber

Croak, Coke


18 posted on 05/09/2021 5:22:26 AM PDT by Beowulf9
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To: Bon of Babble
Coke needs to rebrand itself as a toilet cleaner (about all it's good for):

Not true at all.

Other uses include:

Cleaning corrosion off of the terminals of car batteries
emergency contraceptive
removing rust from tools
degreaser
de-icing a windshield

19 posted on 05/09/2021 5:38:49 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: PAR35

“emergency contraceptive”

Hmmmm. Sounds interesting, but I guess I don’t want to know.


20 posted on 05/09/2021 5:43:29 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam (I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence - Prof. Dean Alfange)
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