# Was "BLAK" Coke a Flop? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** soda-softdrinks\ **Created:** [December 28, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863 "2006-12-28T15:22:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/1 "2006-12-28T15:22:10Z")
I just tried a bottle of it-weird tasting! i guess it was coca-Cola’s attempt to make a coffe-flavored coke. anyway-the name-was it "ebonics’-inspired? Should i keep a bottle 9to add to my “Billy Beer” collection? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/2 "2006-12-28T15:27:42Z")
If so, that would settle the “Is there a God?” question once and for all. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/3 "2006-12-28T15:28:47Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] I just tried a bottle of it-weird tasting! i guess it was coca-Cola’s attempt to make a coffe-flavored coke. [/quote] I thought it was literally coke mixed with coffee, not just coffee flavored. > [@](#): > > anyway-the name-was it "ebonics’-inspired? :dubious: Noo… (I don’t even know why one would think so.) It strikes me as being more inspired by a sort of european-cool feel. (Doesn’t it even have two dots over the ‘a’?) But my idea here may be just as :dubious: as I thought your idea was… > [@](#): > > Should i keep a bottle 9to add to my “Billy Beer” collection? I think probably so. (Though it has been in my grocery store for, I think, almost a year now.) -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/4 "2006-12-28T15:36:14Z")
Taking a look at the [site](http://www.coca-colablak.com/us/index.jsp) for BlaK (the ‘K’ is apparently capitalized… :rolleyes: ) it looks to me like their going for a few different feels sort of all combined together. There’s the European-cool thing I mentioned. (Witness the tilde over the ‘a’,) a whole sort of jazz/beat-poetry-philosophy thing (witness the slogan, using a words like “essence” and “effervecence,” along with the background music and the generally “smokey” feel of the ad). And tying in with the jazz-club angle from this, yes, I’d say there’s even reference here to a particular “style” of “blackness” (I’m talking about rhetorical devices, not real people here, people…) and this makes me think the “BlaK” misspelling, while not exactly “Ebonics” inspired, still has something to do with the kinds of purposeful “subversive” misspellings I have seen in some African American output in poetry, marketing, baby name choices and so on. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/5 "2006-12-28T15:36:28Z")
Taking a look at the [site](http://www.coca-colablak.com/us/index.jsp) for BlaK (the ‘K’ is apparently capitalized… :rolleyes: ) it looks to me like they’re going for a few different feels sort of all combined together. There’s the European-cool thing I mentioned. (Witness the tilde over the ‘a’,) a whole sort of jazz/beat-poetry-philosophy thing (witness the slogan, using a words like “essence” and “effervecence,” along with the background music and the generally “smokey” feel of the ad). And tying in with the jazz-club angle from this, yes, I’d say there’s even reference here to a particular “style” of “blackness” (I’m talking about rhetorical devices, not real people here, people…) and this makes me think the “BlaK” misspelling, while not exactly “Ebonics” inspired, still has something to do with the kinds of purposeful “subversive” misspellings I have seen in some African American output in poetry, marketing, baby name choices and so on. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/6 "2006-12-28T18:17:03Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] There’s the European-cool thing I mentioned. (Witness the tilde over the ‘a’,) [/QUOTE] Except that’s not a tilde. That’s the “Dynamic Ribbon Device”, the wavy line underneath the words Coca-Cola that make up Coke’s logo. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/7 "2006-12-28T18:35:50Z")
[QUOTE=Bambi Hassenpfeffer] Except that’s not a tilde. That’s the “Dynamic Ribbon Device”, the wavy line underneath the words Coca-Cola that make up Coke’s logo. [/QUOTE] Which has also been used in the oval logo on the bottle. Notice how the “coke ribbon” does a pos/neg thing… where if you look at the negative space, they look like two drops of liquid coming together (coke/coffee) in a yin-yang sorta way. I gotta stop staring at these bottles so long. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/8 "2006-12-28T18:42:23Z")
My dad developed those bottles! We have stacks and stacks of it at my parents’ house. CC was pretty exuberant in giving him samples. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/9 "2006-12-28T18:55:36Z")
I’ve never tried it myself, though it sounds rather…odd. Those aren’t exactly two great tastes I thought would taste great together. On the other hand, the website for Coke BlaK is fabulously, unselfconsciously pretentious. Is one supposed to sip it while beating your bongos and writing poetry? ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/10 "2006-12-28T19:32:20Z")
[Drew Carey] Get your Buzz Beer! [/Drew Carey] ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/11 "2006-12-28T19:57:02Z")
[QUOTE=Bambi Hassenpfeffer] Except that’s not a tilde. That’s the “Dynamic Ribbon Device”, the wavy line underneath the words Coca-Cola that make up Coke’s logo. [/QUOTE] Yeah, of course, but clearly also being used in a way meant to recall the tilde. (Or anyway, “European style” diacritical marks.) -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/12 "2006-12-28T19:58:34Z")
[QUOTE=anu-la1979] My dad developed those bottles! We have stacks and stacks of it at my parents’ house. CC was pretty exuberant in giving him samples. [/QUOTE] As in, he designed the graphics? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/13 "2006-12-28T20:02:38Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] Yeah, of course, but clearly also being used in a way meant to recall the tilde. [/QUOTE] They’ve re-called the tilde? Damn! Is it safe to use mine? Can I get a loaner? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/14 "2006-12-28T20:42:39Z")
Cool site. I like the way it looks and I love that type of music. Reminds me somewhat (although a darker version) of the [Bombay Sapphire site](http://bombaysapphire.com). (Music begins after the splash page [bubbles/beads] loads.) ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/15 "2006-12-28T21:28:35Z")
No, he developed the alloy and the coatings necessary for the design on the aluminum bottles (he’s a scientist/invented, not a graphic artist). I’m not sure he used one of his already patented alloys and just made a new coating or what. I know he got to meet the CEO of Coke, though. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/16 "2006-12-28T21:30:12Z")
Inventor…my father is an industrial scientist (metallurgist and chemical engineer). You would not believe how much thought gets put into sheet metal. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/17 "2006-12-28T21:30:30Z")
I have no idea why they labeled it as a fusion drink rather than a coffee drink. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/18 "2006-12-29T00:00:21Z")
According to Wikipedia, it’s going to be discontinued in the US in early 2007 along with Black Cherry Vanilla Coke. And **anu** , those bottles are apparently just for France. Bottles here are glass covered in a plastic jacket label. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/19 "2006-12-29T03:13:08Z")
It tasted gross. Bring back diet vanilla Coke, and maybe we’ll talk. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863/20 "2006-12-29T03:18:47Z")
I tried ‘BLAK’ Coke once. Once. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-blak-coke-a-flop/385863.md?page=2)