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.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.
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.
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