Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[overgeeked]

It's more like they can't grasp the idea that someone could disagree with their opinion. As if they could only explain their love (or hate) of something well enough, disagreement with them would become impossible. It's hard to believe that some people don't like chocolate--so maybe if they tell them about all of the things that make chocolate great, again, maybe they'll change their mind.

That's what it feels like, anyway.

As an ADHDer and a smart ass, I feel compelled to simply copy & paste my initial post.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

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 I may be out of date or misremembering, but I did a pretty big research paper on the topic when I was in college and I remember most of the consensus in the research was it boiled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 can’t give you my sources- I got my info in an MBA class being taught by a retired Coca-Cola VP 20 or so years ago, and those notes are long gone- but John Demott’s Time magazine article, “All Afizz Over The New Coke” (June 24, 1985) stated those same figures.

John’s article also mentions people complaining about the taste, including Gay Mullins. Mullins was the driving force behind the class-action lawsuit that fizzled when he literally couldn’t distinguish between New Coke and other drinks in a blind taste test for the court.

I will say though, 75 percent saying they would buy it again isn't 75 percent saying they prefer it to the older version.

I agree in part, and that’s part of the point I’m making: New Coke’s research team revealed it was a great product to beat competitors in the market, and thus supplement the original recipe in the company’s array of beverages.

But the research said nothing about replacing the original recipe. They never even asked relevant questions about that possibility. Coke saw the positive marketing data, but jumped to an incorrect conclusion on how to sell the product because they didn’t see the gaping hole in their methodology.

Beyond that, New Coke outperformed every other soft drink it was blindly tested against (including the original recipe). Its sales outpaced previous years’ for the same period, until it was revealed that it was fully replacing the original recipe. That revelation started the backlash.

My memory is the sales fell shortly after it was released

They DID fall shortly after the release. Even though New Coke was sold for 17 years- most of that time after it was renamed Coke II in 1990- its heyday was brief. After only a few months, Classic Coke (as it was then called) returned to store shelves.

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

It was more competitive. Coke’s share of the market had dropped to just over a third of what it had been 40 years prior.

But Coke had its own big ad campaigns. Bill Cosby- back then, America’s #1 Dad- what’s shilling for Coke, citing its flavor as being more suitable for refined tastes.

And still, Coke was hemorrhaging market share.

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.

No, you’re misunderstanding what happened in the lawsuit. This wasn’t about taste tests (possibly) favoring sweeter beverages. The case was dismissed because they failed to prove the most basic elements of their allegations.

The plaintiffs claimed that New Coke had an inferior flavor to the classic recipe, and were trying to force Coke to re-release original Coca-Cola to the market. But they couldn’t even pick out classic Coke out of an array of other sodas, including New Coke. They failed to identify the beverages tested. You can’t allege something “tastes worse” than something else, then fail to distinguish it from what you claim is worse, and expect to win.

It wasn’t akin to “I like the flavor of beef more than that of chicken or salmon.” It was like being unable to distinguish between them.

I honestly don’t think there was any way the lawsuit could have prevailed, but they didn’t even give the Court enough to allow them to proceed.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I feel like this is the way in which New Coke is probably most instructive regarding changes in game rules, or replacing long-running characters/franchises with new versions, or such.

I can tell you that the same kind of mentality prevailed in my game group at the time of D&D 4Ed’s release. Many of us- myself included- liked the system, but not as a replacement for 3.5Ed.

 

[Umbran]

Some people do not understand other people think differently.

"Think differently," has connotations that they may think wrong.

More clearly: other people can have other priorities, tastes, preferences, needs, esthetics, goals, etc., that will lead them to different conclusions based on the same information.

 

[dragoner]

"Think differently," has connotations that they may think wrong.

More clearly: other people can have other priorities, tastes, preferences, needs, esthetics, goals, etc., that will lead them to different conclusions based on the same information.

True, however they still do not grasp that fact.

 

[Maxperson]

[emphasis mine]
DannyA's analysis isn't contradicted by the bolded comment above based on your own research. Many people liked the New Coke and if Coca-Cola had listened to the market, they could have offered consumers both. They kind of did since New Coke was still produced long after Coke Classic was rushed back to the market, but the reach of New Coke from that point was pretty limited.
They also failed to understand the customers' attachment and identification with Coke. And that identity didn't automatically transfer to New Coke, particularly since they were pushing how it wasn't the same old Coke. Customers wanted their Coke-drinker identity to continue as before, not shift to this Pepsi-knockoff drinker that New Coke represented. Again, Coke failed to understand what the customers wanted - or even the power of their own brand identity.

I remember when New Coke came out. Pepsi was too sweet for me to really enjoy and I much preferred the bittersweet taste of Coke. When New Coke arrived and replaced Coke, I was upset. I can't remember if it was a sweet as Pepsi, but tasted better, or whether it wasn't quite as sweet as Pepsi, but I liked New Coke more than Pepsi. I didn't like it nearly as much as Coke Classic, though. When they brought Coke back as Coke Classic, all was right with the universe again.

 

[trappedslider]

 

[trappedslider]

Some people do not understand other people think differently.

You want me to think? The thing that killed socrates?

 

[Scribe]

Now I want some milk and oreo's, knowing that it will make me sick tomorrow.

 

[trappedslider]

I see white shores, and beyond it, a far green country under a tequila sunrise.