I watched a documentary last night on the whole “New Coke” debacle that happened a while back (missed the year as I only caught the last half of the doc).
Can any US dopers tell me more about this?
Was the “New Coke” really as bad as the protests made out it was?
What difference was there in taste?
I prefer Pepsi Cola so would I be more or less inclined to like the New Coke?
How long were “Classic Coke” and “New Coke” side by side before the original took precedence again and the new one disappeared for ever?
Does anyone have any of the new bottles still?
Is it worth anything in the retro market?
I remember New Coke very vaguely - I was, like, ten or something when it came out. It didn’t last long - I remember Coke Classic (which is all there is, now) coming out very quickly, sharing shelf space with new Coke, and then new Coke disappearing. Bill Cosby was in the New Coke commercials, looking like he really enjoyed it.
Summary: Blind tests showed that most people preffered the New Coke taste over the Classic one. New Coke taste was closer to Pepsi’s than to Classic Coke flavor, and the reason for the fiasco was that NewCoke did not benefit as much from the Coca-Cola myth as Classic did. At least that’s what Snopes says.
It’s not anywhere at all (as far as I know).
It’s a sort of joke.
The people that are born in my town are nicknamed “Bairns” (as is the local football team).
So it’s a play on that.
I remember New Coke. There were lots and lots of us who did NOT like Pepsi and were mightily offended that Coke took a good thing and changed it for no discernible reason – it’s not like they were having trouble selling their product!
Fortunately, I was far from in the minority. Coke figured out real fast that they’d made one of the major marketing blunders of all time – forgetting about “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” on a colossal scale – and pretended that they were doing us a favor by bringing back Classic Coke.
“New” Coke is still available in limited markets-as “Coke II”, IIRC.
“Classic” Coke isn’t classic at all-it uses corn syrup instead of sugar like it’s supposed to. Buy Kosher for Passover Coke next Spring or get some from Canada where they still use sugar-you CAN taste the difference.
I would kill everyone on this message board with a cheese grater ( one of those new electric Gizmo ones, probably ) for a bottle of Coke made with sugar and served ice cold in a glass bottle. Mmmmmmmmm…
I beg to differ! I have a theory in which the New Coke “blunder” was one of the most brilliant marketing ideas in the history of American business. Imagine: Coke Classic sales are falling to Pepsi’s market share. The marketers at Coca-Cola decide that if they bring in a “new and improved” but worse-tasting beverage that is slated to replace Coke Classic, people will rush to the stores to buy the old stuff in hopes that Coca-Cola will change its mind. Well, it worked brilliantly. Coke Classic sales go back up, and New Coke fades into obscurity. Of course, I have no sales figures or other research to back up my theory, so feel free to pick it apart as you will.
Was it actually proved up, or was Snopes simply taking Coke representatives’ word for it that it really was a blunder, not a master-mind marketing technique?
I do remember that Coke sales were slipping and Pepsi did begin to take over as “most popular cola” and that was the reason they made Coke. It was supposed to taste more like Pepsi.
On a related note… does any remember The Pop Shoppe? We used to go there all the time for our pop. It was similar to Shasta in that they had every flavor under the sun, but it tasted better. And it was all in glass returnable bottles. We used to get so excited on “Pop Shoppe Day!”
You had Pop Shoppes in Minnesota? They were common in Southern Ontario–usually in refurbished gas stations, for some reason–and I thought they were purely a Toronto-based chain.
No need for the cheese grater, Dave. This place isn’t too far from me; I coulda picked some up for you before I came to Baltimore a few days ago, had I known. Luckily, you can also order online from them.
Sure did! At least in the Twin Cities Metro anyway. I don’t know how far spread they were. Of course, since so many people think Minnesota is part of Canada, that may have had something to do with it.
As a fan of Coca-Cola, I can confirm that the Canadian sugar-based version is [subjectively, obviously] superior to the the corn-syrup based recipe. And, Weirddave, somehow I thought you’d have connections for getting Canadian Coke. Drop me a line, and I’ll hook you up, if need be.
And, if you’re interested, here is a little history on the Pop Shoppe.
Are you kidding? We have half a case downstairs right now. Unfortunately, Ginger “can’t”(won’t) drink any Coke but Canadian Coke and since it IS a bit awkward to get ( although most of our friends do bring some when they come down ), I’m not allowed to touch it. As she drinks maybe one a month, if that, it just sits there, taunting me, teasing me with it’s seductive sugary goodness. Oh, the pain, the pain of it all!
Thank you, Little Miss Attitude, for reminding me about Pop Shoppe. There was totally a Pop Shoppe in Fort McMurray, Alberta when I lived there 15 year ago, and I totally fucking loved it.
