Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[Dannyalcatraz]

I would disagree sharply with this, remembering what it was like when new coke came out. I don't think you can minimize the role that flavor played here. The problem was a lot of people didn't like new coke and they wanted the old taste.

New Coke was one of the most heavily market researched products in history. Its flavor trounced every other soda on the market in nationwide testing, including Coke, Pepsi, and regional brands you’ve never heard of.

When it hit the shelves, it sold out quickly. Company sales were up 8% over the previous year. When questioned, 75% of those who bought New Coke said they’d buy it again. Then people realized it was actually replacing original Coca-Cola.

Once the changeover occurred, the bulk of the company’s feedback from complaints simultaneously praised the new product while calling for bringing the classic recipe back. People wanted both.

But Coca-Cola insisted that wasn’t going to happen, and people started complaining publicly. I kid you not, in some sections of the South (home of Coca-Cola), the changeover was likened to aspects of the Civil War, with the new flavor cast as a concession to Pepsi-loving Yankees. (Pepsi was created in New York.)

The swap was also called a Communist plot…even as Fidel Castro decried it as a sign of capitalist decadence.

The Coca-Cola president and chief operating officer at the time, reported overhearing someone say at his country club that they liked New Coke, but they would be "damned if I'll let Coca-Cola know that". This was partly because Bill Cosby’s commercials had been about how enjoying Coke’s flavor was a sign of maturity and sophistication. New Coke was contrary to that crafted perception.

A class-action lawsuit was filed to force Coke to change back, and was dismissed when the chief complainants picked New Coke instead of the original flavor in a blind taste test.

 

[Maxperson]

Well, even people who are good at critical thinking are not always good at critical thinking.

Especially when we note that critical thinking, criticism, and critique are not the same thing.

That's why when all else fails, I fall back on critical hits. A critical hit often solves the problem at hand, and almost always feels very satisfying.

 

[Bedrockgames]

New Coke was one of the most heavily market researched products in history. Its flavor trounced every other soda on the market in nationwide testing, including Coke, Pepsi, and regional brands you’ve never heard of.

But this was because it was sweet and sweet does well in taste testing. The issue everyone discovered when it hit market was it wasn't a good taste for a full serving. The reason they made the change was pepsi was beating them in taste tests for this reason

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The issue everyone discovered when it hit market was it wasn't a good taste for a full serving.

Again, 75% of people who bought it said they would buy it again. Sales were up 8%.

Then they found that the original flavor was actually being discontinued. That’s when sales cratered.

Remember, Pepsi wasn’t just beating Coke in taste tests. Pepsi had begun to outsell Coke in supermarkets; Coke had maintained its overall lead in the market mainly through soda machine and fast food restaurant sales. Coke had gone from a 60% market share to just under 24%.

 

[dragoner]

 

[Bedrockgames]

Again, 75% of people who bought it said they would buy it again. Sales were up 8%.

I would be interested in the sources on these numbers so I can see more. I may be out of date or misremembering, but I did a pretty big research paper on the topic when I was in college and I remember most of the consensus in the research was it boiled down to the taste testing issue I mentioned and failing to understand what the customers wanted

I will say though, 75 percent saying they would buy it again isn't 75 percent saying they prefer it to the older version. And I don't think sales going up is a surprise as it was heavily marketed and people were looking forward to it

Then they found that the original flavor was actually being discontinued. That’s when sales cratered.

Again I would be interested in the sources on this. My memory is the sales fell shortly after it was released

Remember, Pepsi wasn’t just beating Coke in taste tests. Pepsi had begun to outsell Coke in supermarkets; Coke had maintained its overall lead in the market mainly through soda machine and fast food restaurant sales. Coke had gone from a 60% market share to just under 24%.

Sure, but I think a lot of this had to do with things like the Pepsi challenge which was a massive ad campaign. Also at that time, and this is just memory, I recall the overall cola market feeling a little more competitive than it is today

 

[Bedrockgames]

Once the changeover occurred, the bulk of the company’s feedback from complaints simultaneously praised the new product while calling for bringing the classic recipe back. People wanted both.

I would definitely be interested in the source on this because I remember the complaints being they wanted the old recipe. That said, sure if they wanted both, that is fine, but that isn't what was being offered. If coke had rolled out Coke II and kept classic coke on the market, people might have been fine having the choice. But I think people are forgetting how disliked new coke was in the streets. I remember what it tasted like. It wasn't good IMO

But Coca-Cola insisted that wasn’t going to happen, and people started complaining publicly. I kid you not, in some sections of the South (home of Coca-Cola), the changeover was likened to aspects of the Civil War,

I was in the North East and Southern California when this all happened. So I can't speak to the south. But I can say we had just as much complaints about new coke and people were upset (it didn't get wrapped up in the cultural issue you mention but people were angry because they wanted to the old coke flavor).

with the new flavor cast as a concession to Pepsi-loving Yankees. (Pepsi was created in New York.)

Yankee is one of those terms that means something very different depending on where it is being said. I live in Boston but am not a Yankee. However around here, I don't think people viewed or view Pepsi as particularly northern. Coke was always more popular in the part of Massachusetts I grew up in. I tend to associate Pepsi with more western states (which itself may be a misperception, as I didn't encounter many peopel who preferred it till I went to Southern California.

The swap was also called a Communist plot…even as Fidel Castro decried it as a sign of capitalist decadence.

I am sure these people existed and people said this. I am guessing though they were layering that onto their dislike of the new flavor, which I just think you can't ignore as that is the the thing that changed.

The Coca-Cola president and chief operating officer at the time, reported overhearing someone say at his country club that they liked New Coke, but they would be "damned if I'll let Coca-Cola know that". This was partly because Bill Cosby’s commercials had been about how enjoying Coke’s flavor was a sign of maturity and sophistication. New Coke was contrary to that crafted perception.

If that is what they were going for, it isn't at all what my perception of the ads were at the times. Bill Cosby in that period was just this avuncular comedian that people liked and who people trusted (obviously situation has changed on that front). When those ads rolled out, I don't remember thinking it was the height of sophistication, I just remember thinking Bill Cosby was assuring us the new coke would be better than the original (which to us was exciting news). Maybe there was a different perception of this in other places though

A class-action lawsuit was filed to force Coke to change back, and was dismissed when the chief complainants picked New Coke instead of the original flavor in a blind taste test.

Again though that comes down to the way these taste tests tend to favor sweeter recipes. You don't take one sip of coke and put the can down.

 

[Bedrockgames]

This is one of those things I got to pass on, as I've never understood the attraction to the flavor of any cola. Of course back in my Dr. Pepper drinking days, plenty of people felt the same about it.

I stopped drinking soda in the early 2000s and now when I have a coke or anything like it, it is a bit like drinking candy

 

[Bedrockgames]

Also one other point, I believe, and I could be wrong, but I remember when they re-introduced coca-cola classic they kept new coke on the market and classic won out (though I think they may have done something like remove the cane sugar or otherwise change it when classic came out)

 

[overgeeked]

Not here.

You do realize you're arguing against everything the person in your profile picture stood for, right?