So... what was wrong with New Coke?

Nothing was wrong with it, the whole New Coke debacle was pure psychology OP.

It had a slightly different taste but I remember as a 6 year old that it ok to me.

Cosby was pushing it. Just a feeling . . .

It didn't have the kick of regular coke - it was a bland cola like RC.

Too sweet, too flat. The old coke was so good, the classic didn't seem to be the same.

I personally didn't care one way or another, but it was more about what New Coke *wasn't* -- it wasn't the Coke that had been around for decades. Pepsi had a field day with it. There was even a Pepsi commercial with some chick saying "Coke said they were 'it' but then they changed. Why?" Then she tastes a Pepsi. "Oh, now I know why!"

The ad campagin and then the backlash to it killed it, I think.

Please,it was pure marketing genius .

I remember after drinking New Coke for the first time, my mom bought something like 20 packs of the remaining regular Coke that was still at the grocery store.

It was a scam. People went crazy and stocked up on old Coke, then went out in droves to buy Classic Coke after they killed New Coke. New Coke, btw, was the exact same formula as Diet Coke, but without the aspartame.

Agree with R5. Too sweet and too flat. If I'd have wanted Pepsi, I'd have drunk Pepsi.

There was no reason to introduce new coke or cryatal pepsi so you must conclude they were marketing gimics.

Nothing really...it just gave the old Coke a chance to change its formula...change from cane sugar to syrup....

When they brought back "Classic" Coke, didn't they replace sugar with corn syrup at that time? And consumers didn't raise a stink about it because they had their drink back again.

People liked the coke they'd been drinking for decades and were told they couldn't get it anymore. They were also told that the product they liked wasn't good and needed improving. I didn't notice much difference, but we never had soda in the house so I wasn't much of a connoisseur.

Noticeably sweeter — and it wasn’t Coke. Calling it a replacement was a bad mistake.

Crystal Pepsi? The company never explained what i5 tasted like or compared it to anything. The clear element b3came a gimmick.

I don't drink that shit.

I could never stand regular or New Coke -- both are too sweet. But I ADORE Diet Coke, and have been addicted to it since it was introduced.

Exactly, R14.

And the crazy thing was that people liked the taste of New Coke in taste tests. In the blind tests, New Coke actually won over both Pepsi and old Coke. The uproar was psychological and partially caused by one man who went to the media and got a lot of coverage.

New Coke was based on Diet Coke, R18.

R5 and R11 are so right: it didn't taste the same--it tasted WRONG. And when you grew up on Coke the way I did, you didn't want anyone messing around with it. As R11 said, If I'd have wanted Pepsi, I'd have drunk Pepsi. [shudders]

A whole book was written about the fiasco.

It tasted like flat Pepsi.

Interesting r18 and r20. I used to love classic Coke, never drank Pepsi. Then they changed it and now I only drink Diet Pepsi or Diet Dr. Pepper, I always thought diet Coke was too flat, and I was right!

[quote]- it was a bland cola like RC.

How dare you! RC is every bit as good as Coca-cola and better than Pepsi although I like Pepsi too. New Coke was an idiotic unnecessary change for the sake of change idea that deserved to fail. It was on par with no-name colas.

I remember liking it and being utterly confused by the shitstorm around it.

i remember it tasted like pepsi and i hate pepsi

[quote]When they brought back "Classic" Coke, didn't they replace sugar with corn syrup at that time?

The switch was made before then.

It had female lubricant in it.

Nothing beats my Coke Zero.

I was open to and excited about the promise of new Coke tasting better than regular Coke. However, when I tasted it, it did not taste better. It tasted like Diet Coke sweetened with HFCS .

I too remember it tasting too sweet, which is saying something cause I was raised in South Carolina, where sweet tea is the house wine.

R27 Yes, it tasted just like Pepsi. Maybe they thought there were people who hated PepsiCo but loved the taste of their cola.

Taste tests showed a preference for Pepsi over Coke's original formulation, but the preference was reversed when people consumed a whole can of the sodas, as Pepsi's higher sugar content was perceived as cloyingly sweet.

I, too, remember assessing the New Coke as a flat Pepsi.

Now, they would introduce it as a variation or a limited edition flavor, but at that time, they appeared to have thrown a hundred-year American "legacy" in the trash. People don't like that kind of change. If they brought back a limited edition 1980's New Coke today, it would probably sell well as a throwback novelty.

Pepsi's CEO's subsequent book discussing Coke's apparent misstep was titled "The Other Guy Blinked".

The day classic Coke was reintroduced in Atlanta, people drove down Peachtree And the connector honking their horns. The hometown hero was back.

I loved New Coke and kept buying it right up until it was discontinued.

The 80s was weird

It was a way to change the formula for coke. Introduce a NEW one, get the public to hate it. Then introduce classic which is now HFCS instead of sugar. All bullshit.

R39, your post is what's bullshit.

Coke started changing over to HFCS years before New Coke, as has already been mentioned at least once.

The consensus was when they did the blind taste test, people did like New Coke better, but that was only because they were drinking a tiny bit to taste it.

When people consumed the regular glass or bottle of Coke it was too sweet and too much like Pepsi. And that is why Pepsi won the taste tests, because people like the sweater cola but only in small amounts.

"sweater cola"

I guess it was a simpler time.

It didn’t have the slight edge that classic coke had - it was smoother, sweeter, and I think it was less carbonated. Basically like Pepsi. Some people say that the whole thing was a marketing stunt to revive Coke's fortunes after a few years of fading while Pepsi was gaining. And it did just that.

People could tell the difference

It did taste like Pepsi, so why bother with the change? We drank Dr Pepper but would have Coca Cola when DP wasn't available. We just stopped drinking Coke altogether when they switched formulas. I suspect that most people did that, too, which was the reason they panicked.

My grandparents drank the diet version of whatever was on sale, so even though I eventually came to only drink Diet Coke, I didn't have a problem with Diet Pepsi. Diet Dr Pepper tasted absolutely horrible to me. That was one formula change that was for the better.

The media hype was insane

Remember when our biggest national issue was a soft drink company changing formulas, those were the days.

I was still in my childhood in 1985.

I have to admit—for a long time, I did not really taste Coke and Pepsi. My family drinks Coke. In restaurants serving Pepsi, I was willing to order Pepsi. Then in the late-1990s, I stopped drinking cola for several years. I was asked by one person which of the two I prefer. I went back to trying them again. I found I like the formula of Coke more than Pepsi. I was reminded of the differences between dark and milk chocolate. I like them both. But, it had me realizing Coke is in line with dark chocolate for the deep, penetrating taste; Pepsi is in line with milk chocolate for being sweeter and not quite as penetrating.

I now drink Coke. If a restaurant serves Pepsi-Cola products, I don’t order. If it serves, Coca-Cola, I order.