The new Coke product was made in the hope of achieving a smoother, sweeter taste by sweetening the drink with corn syrup.
The 1980s is known in the beverage industry as the period when rivalry between the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo was its peak.
“These two products, Pepsi and Coke, have been going at it eyeball to eyeball, and in my view the other guy just blinked,” said former PepsiCo CEO, Roger Enrico in 1985.
Blink is exactly what Coca-Cola did when they announced the unveiling of their most ambitious move in the history of the company on 23 April 1985.
They announced that they would be producing and selling a ‘new Coke’ which was met with negative feedback from Coke fans and devotees right across America.
The majority of this feedback came from the southern markets in the USA, where Coke was first bottled and tasted – way back when.
Even Fidel Castro, a longtime Coca-Cola drinker, contributed to the backlash, calling New Coke a sign of American capitalist decadence.
Coca-Cola Company CEO, Roberto Goizueta’s own father expressed similar misgivings to his son, who later recalled that it was the only time the older man had agreed with Castro, whose rule he had fled Cuba to avoid.
The company received over 40 000 calls and letters after the ‘new Coke’ release, including one letter delivered to Goizueta, that was addressed to “Chief Dodo, The Coca-Cola Company”.
Another letter asked for his autograph, as the signature of “one of the dumbest executives in American business history” would likely become valuable in the future.
There were several campaigns and organisations launched against the product, the most successful of which was the Old Cola Drinkers of America organisation founded on 28 May, 1985.
It lobbied Coca-Cola to either reintroduce the old formula or sell it to someone else. The organisation eventually received over 60 000 phone calls.
Bottlers of Coca-Cola products outside America even refused to bottle and sell New Coke when Coca-Cola executives met with the bottlers in Monaco.
78 days after the announcement of New Coke, on 11 July 1985, the company announced that it would reintroduce the original Coke as a separate product, launching it as Coca-Cola Classic.
New Coke would remain in production in very limited markets and had its name changed to Coke II in 1992.
Production of Coke II was eventually permanently stopped in 2002.
Coca-Cola Classic would retain the name around the world until 2009 when the Coca-Cola Company got rid of the ‘classic’ part of the name.
Coke does however remain Coca-Cola Classic in some international markets around the world.
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