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So, that's sort of an oddity of this whole situation. People, in general, LIKED the taste of New Coke over Classic Coke and Pepsi. They just didn't like the IDEA of New Coke.
Should have just branded it as a new product, not a replacement: "Coke Neo, a new take on an old standard."
And that is what they wound up doing. For many years afterwards, it was sold as Coke II
It wasn't officially discontinued until 2002, though, here in the south, you could not find it at all, unless it was a specialty shop or something.
All in all, it had a longer life than many of Coke's products... Such as Coca-Cola Blak.. Anyone remember that abomination? Coffee flavored coke. Or this latest Orange Vanilla Coke.. Tastes like Dayquil with a hint of vanilla.
The "old" Coke with real cane sugar was the best. My late grandma used to drink 5 or more bottles per day. Whenever I am in Colombia I partake of a glass or 3. Its so much better than USA Coca Cola with corn syrup. In 1986 the switch started. I stopped drinking it decades ago maybe in the 1970's
Me too, I buy "Mexican Coke" about every 2-3 months, just to enjoy the taste of good old fashioned cane sugar Coca Cola from my youth (or something that comes close anyway)!
I hate corn syrup and aspartame.
The "lite" Coke (green label) that has sugar and stevia is not bad, but it's kind of a novelty product.
Best thing however is to just drink water... from the tap... it's what we evolved to drink these past couple billion years or so.
My first word was Coke, so you can imagine how loyal a Coca Cola drinker I was. Until New Coke, and the insult to our intelligence they did with their whole handling of that fiasco. (It is now taught in marketing classes as how NOT to market.)
First, they told us we'd like it better than the original. Then they told us we wouldn't be able to tell the difference (?????). Then they set a date for when it would be released, with great fanfare.
The Sunday of the weekend before it was to be released the following weekend, I walked up to the local convenience store to get my Sunday morning Coke and Sunday newspaper, knowing it would be the last time I would be able to get the Real Thing. Got home, settled in, opened the can, tasted it, and immediately got up and took it to my husband and asked him if he thought it was bad (mouse in it or something?). He tasted it and said something was very very wrong with it and I should get rid of it. As I was doing so, I noticed the rim of the can was a different color. Investigation turned up that the convenience store up the way had received an early shipment and put it out early. So, yes, I could tell the difference and I not only did not like it better, I thought it was a spoiled drink.
Then they brought back what they told us was Classic Coke, except that it wasn't. They were using corn syrup instead of sugar and thought we wouldn't be able to tell the difference. That was the last straw. I believe maybe three or four Cokes have crossed my lips since then, when absolutely nothing else was available or if it was a Mexican Coke. I switched to Dr Pepper at that point after 35 years of religiously drinking Coca Cola and haven't looked back. Of course, then there was the whole Dublin Dr Pepper fiasco where Snapple (and the distributors whining because people liked Dublin Dr Pepper than what they made) cut their own throat. I don't drink Dr Pepper any more, either - it's Dr B with sugar for me now. (Did I mention I'm a Scorpio and have been known to hold a grudge?)
So, that's sort of an oddity of this whole situation. People, in general, LIKED the taste of New Coke over Classic Coke and Pepsi. They just didn't like the IDEA of New Coke.
But that's not what is says in the article you cite. It says nothing about blind taste tests and there is nothing to indicate any response was overwhelming . Of course there would have been taste testing but they were obviously inadequate. Even after Coke Classic was brought back there was little demand for New Coke, later marketed as Coke II. Further, the article makes no mention at all about what you call "the IDEA of New Coke."
Is it possible you meant to link an entirely different article?
They're doing it for a nostalgia thing. 34 years ago New Coke bombed but today it's seen as a symbol of the '80s. I never had a chance to try the original (born in 1992) and want to try it just to see what the fuss was all about.
"The company is bringing back a limited number of New Coke cans in honor of the upcoming third season of "Stranger Things," in which the product is featured.........And it wasn't easy to recreate the product: Coca-Cola had to reach into its archives to get the design of right, and dig through its vault to recover the recipe."
I've tried, but I can't think of any news item that could possibly have less significance in my life. However, my older sister was a lifelong Coca-Cola addict. She drank at least two litres of it daily and it couldn't be the diet kind. As a result, from childhood, she was continually overweight, from all the calories she was drinking. She never knew what life could be, except as an obese person. When she visited, you had to be sure the refrigerator was well-stocked with her preferred poison. And otherwise, she led an outstanding and successful life.
But that's not what is says in the article you cite. It says nothing about blind taste tests and there is nothing to indicate any response was overwhelming . Of course there would have been taste testing but they were obviously inadequate. Even after Coke Classic was brought back there was little demand for New Coke, later marketed as Coke II. Further, the article makes no mention at all about what you call "the IDEA of New Coke."
Is it possible you meant to link an entirely different article?
No. Went with that one for the part about the idea being the failure, not the product.
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