The New Coke of 1985
A brief story of Insecurity.
Don’t worry, I totally respect your time. I'll keep it short and give you all the info you need.
So if I were to blindfold you and hand you 2 cups with each of them having Pepsi and Coca Cola respectively, which one would you like the most?
Not just me, but even Pepsi wanted to find the answer to this, and in 1975, Pepsi launched 'The Pepsi Challenge.' Pepsi employees would go to shopping centers and malls, inviting shoppers to take a blind taste test to pick their favorite drink.
Maybe you’d like Pepsi, maybe Coke. I couldn’t for the life of me tell both of them apart XD. Hey, but anyway…
In 1975, a good chunk of people preferred Pepsi over Coca Cola. Let me inform you - Coke had MAJORITY market share during this time.
But after this challenge, people started liking Pepsi and Pepsi slowly started getting good traction in the market through the late 1970s and early 1980s.
But what is truly surprising is the way Coke reacted to this. Their reaction was disastrous to say the least. Even marketing experts agree with me on that.
They completely SHELVED their classic Coke formula and introduced a new one. On April 23rd, 1985, Roberto Goizueta, the chairman of Coca-Cola at the time, launched "New Coke".
He called it -
“Smoother, Rounder, yet bolder—a more harmonious flavor.”
When in reality I feel, all they were trying to do was to copy the sweet taste of Pepsi.
This new formula of coke FAILED even before it hit the markets. Stocks of Coca Cola started dropping on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) and that of Pepsi started to rise.
Within mere weeks of its release, Coca-Cola's phone lines were flooded with complaints from angry customers, a trend that only grew over time.
'New Coke' consumers reacted strongly, even resorting to pouring the drink down drains and initiating lawsuits.
A guy even said:
“I don’t think I’d be more upset if you were to burn the flag in our front yard”
By this time, Pepsi had declared victory, even going as far as to publish the following statement on newspaper headlines
“After 87 years of going at it eyeball to eyeball, the other guy just blinked.”
After just 75-ish days of its release, On July 11 1985 Coca Cola brought back its original formula and called it “Coca Cola Classic”, which was later renamed to Coke II. Which outsold both “New Coke” and Pepsi.
Some people say that this was a marketing gimmick to promote the original coke. Although Coca Cola executives denied it.
Coca Cola was doing well both before and after the Pepsi challenge. It's possible they felt insecure as consumer preferences shifted towards Pepsi which led them to take steps such as introduce the “New Coke”.
Fellas, remember - Don't fret over competition. Do your stuff and let the sleeping dogs lie.