1985
New Coke
Custer’s charge at Little Big Horn; the introduction of the Edsel; the decision not to withdraw from Stalingrad; Hilary Clinton choosing not to campaign in the Rust Belt: all great disasters, but they pale into insignificance beside the arrival of “the new taste of Coca Cola” in April 1985.
When World War II ended, Coke’s share of the American soft drink market was 60%; 30 years later that share had dwindled to under 24% — and much of that was only because of Coke’s near monopoly of the fountain drink syrup business. Analysts saw young people buying Pepsi Cola, with its sweeter taste, and Baby Boomers switching to diet drinks. It was not unreasonable, therefore, for Coke to tinker with its formula in order to compete with Pepsi; a series of blind taste tastes showed that a sweeter concoction was preferred to both the old Coke and Pepsi. The company chose not to introduce the new flavour as an option, lest it merely cannibalize sales, and in April 1985 production of the old drink ceased, to be replaced by the “more harmonious” cola.
Pepsi executives had seen this coming and poisoned the well of public opinion, announcing that this change proved Coke had lost the “Cola Wars” and was no longer “the real thing”. Public reaction was scathing and the media had a field day mocking the decision. Entrepreneurs bought up stocks of the old flavour and commanded premium prices for the drink. Finally, three months later, Coke executives reintroduced “Coke Classic” while keeping New Coke on the market. Sales shot back up and the soda drinkers of America had an old friend back. New Coke was quietly given the axe in 2002.