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They might have had better luck had they tried that to start with vs. trying to completely replace the previous, popular product.

They kind of did. Diet Coke had supplemented Tab shortly before, and it is said that New Coke is based on the flavor of Diet Coke, while Coke Zero Sugar is more like "Original" formula. CaffeineFree Coke and Caffeine-Free Diet Coke also came out before New Coke.

For decades. the Coke name was supposed to represent only ONE product, the REAL Thing. Once they started exceptions, the floodgates opened. Inasmuch as Diet Coke outsells regular Pepsi these days, I guess the change worked. Reformulating Tab would NOT have had the same result. Still, I think they lost something.