On April 23, 1985, The Coca-Cola Company announced that
it was changing the formula of its signature soft drink for
the first time in 99 years.
The short-lived, sweeter New Coke, as it is called, debuts to
a consumer backlash that pundits call the marketing blunder
of the century.
Coca-Cola, which had been the world’s bestselling soft drink,
had been facing increasing competition from rival cola Pepsi,
and the company wanted to re-energize the brand.
In blind taste tests, consumers generally preferred New Coke
over Pepsi and the original Coke.
But, consumers had a sentimental attachment to their beloved
brand and reacted very negatively to New Coke.
The company was flooded with up to 8,000 calls a day from
dissatisfied consumers and received some 40,000 complaint
letters.
CEO Roberto Goizueta got a letter addressed to “Chief Dodo,
The Coca-Cola Company.”
Roberto Goizueta (1931–1997)
On July 10, 1985, announced the return of the original Coke formula, renamed Coca-Cola Classic
