Wasn’t it “Pepsi Free”? Not sure about that. I do remember around the same time when at least one American brewery–Miller?–tried to introduce a clear beer as well.
The hell were they thinking? Clear beer.
I think Pepsi Free was different… some new kind of diet pop that wasn’t the same as plain old Diet Pepsi.
And yes, it was Miller who decided clear beer was a good idea. We had it here in Minnesota for a short time. The bartenders served it with ice in it. I never tried one because it seemed so gosh darn dumb.
Hmmm, as an Ontarian, I’m kind of interested in trying the American version of Coke just to see how different it is.
Hmmm, as an Ontarian, I’m kind of interested in trying the American version of Coke just to see how different it is.
Let’s get a few things straight right off. New Coke was not a brilliant marketing strategy. New Coke was a brilliant case of marketing stupidity.
Here’s the scenario. It’s the mid-1980s. Pepsi is trumpeting blind taste tests that “prove” more people prefer the taste of Pepsi. (Technically true, they just didn’t mention that even MORE people didn’t care or couldn’t even tell the difference.)
Coke has several choices. It can engage Pepsi in a brutal price war and fight for restaurant business. It can introduce a product that tastes more like Pepsi and attempt to siphon a few of the people who genuinely prefer the taste of Pepsi (Pepsi is more “citrus” and Coke is more “vanilla.”)
Or, it can take its 99-year old reciepe and change its flagship brand to taste more like Pepsi.
Six months later, new Coke having proved to be one of the worst marketing decisions in history, Coke does what it should have done in the first place – end up with a brand that tastes like Coke and a brand that tastes like Pepsi.
Ok, but you forgot to mention that within X amount of time the “New” product falls of the market relatively completely.
A few years ago, I could still find Pepsi that was imported from Mexico that was made with sugar. I’m not sure if this is still the case, though.
Slight hijack-- Does anyone out there think that the Pepsi sold in 16 ounce glass bottles tasted better than that available in cans or plastic bottles? Perhaps my old memory is playing tricks on me.
I tend to agree with foamfighter… it was done on purpose. IMHO.
Also, ever tried MEXICO’S coke? THey don’t need FDA approval down there… The coke tastes STRONG! and it’s made with sugar i believe.
They still have glass bottles down there. (i’m only 5 min north of them, heh, this side of the River)
See, this is what I don’t understand. Coke tastes like…a drop of nectre, wafted gently down from heaven to enflame the taste buds and delight the other senses with crystaline apparitions of truth, beauty and love.
Pepsi tastes like something squeegied off of the bottom of a offal truck that’s just spent a 100 degree summer day trundling back and forth amongst Chicago’s stockyards.
And yes, I can taste the difference and It DOES make a difference to me, when at a resturant where I ask for Coke and the waitperson replies “Is Pepsi OK?” my response is an emphatic “NO”, and woe to the waitperson who dosen’t ask and serves me that vomit enducing “P-” cola.
Caesar: Yeah, there’s a taste difference between what’s in bottles and what’s in cans. The bottled stuff was/is way better. I notice the difference in drinking beer from a can vs. a bottle. I can deal with drinking pop out of a can, but not beer.
I miss the old bottled pop. Partly because it reminds me of my childhood and I get all nostalgic, but mostly because it did taste better!
Go to a 7-11 or Macs Milk, and buy a Coke slurpee. Let it melt. Drink it. Now you know.
I bring Coke back when I go home to visit, and when MsRobyn went to Montreal in August, she brought me back a flat. Ahhh. I’m making it last as long as I can.
Jeez, they must think Alberta is part of Canada too, because we had The Pop Shoppe at home as well. Family friend ran it as a side to his trucking business.
well said.
re: pop shoppes: I loved picking out all the different exotic flavors. Cream soda…mmmmmm. Didn’t all the bottles say “Viking”?
Next time you go, can you bring some stuff back for me? I’ll give you a list.
Thanks!
Robin
I had saved a 6-pac of cans when the New Coke debued. Over the years, then cans weakened, and one by one they ruptured and emptied their contents in the pantry. Since they were stuffed in the back of the pantry, it was some time before I noticed.
When I checked, just a yer or two ago, there were only two intact cans left. Seeing as they were going fast, I opened one and tried a bit of nostalga.
Apparently, there is an expiration date associated with soft drinks, and one that was not printed on the cans…
I believe the one can is still surviving in the pantry. Dunno how long it will last.
–Patch
Feh. Misread this. I meant I saved a 6-pac of the original coke.
–Patch
You can’t get a Pepsi for free! You have to pay for it!
I remember the New Coke thing very well. I was a major Coca Cola fan at the time (I have since migrated to Sprite.) The first place that you could get it was at McDonalds. I remember it was on a Sunday because I stopped off to try it on the way to a pro football game. I didn’t like it at all. It was better than that Pepsi swill but not the same.
I have my own theory. Coke was going to change from sugar to corn syrup in their formula to save money. They knew it wouldn’t taste as good and that people would have a fit. The New Coke was a diversion. There was a six month break between the real Coke and the Coke Classic which now had corn syrup. People were so happy to have the “original” Coke back that they didn’t notice. In truth I’m about 50/50 between my pet theory and marketing fuck up.
Haj
IANA US Doper, but I have a vague memory of drinking ‘new coke’ on holiday in America. I thought it was nice. But then I can’t really tell the difference between coke and pepsi anyway! 
I read an entire book on the New Coke debacle. They didn’t do it as a brilliant counter-intuitive marketing scheme. They forgot that they weren’t really selling taste, no matter how much people claimed to like the taste.
They were really selling the idea of the vibrant life Coke supposedly imparts. When people found it was being changed, they revolted.
I remember that one of the leaders of some obsessive anti-New Coke groups couldn’t tell the difference between the major colas in a blind taste test. He was embarassed.
When people were given blind taste tests, they chose New Coke. When they were given surveys, they said they would be very likely to buy the mystery product. What they weren’t asked was if their attitude about it replacing the Coke formula entirely.