For those older than they would like to admit, I'm sure you remember the fracas called New Coke. If you weren't there for it (after all, the change barely lasted at all), then you might not even know what it was all about.
In the mid-80s, Coca Cola was slowly losing ground to its competitors thanks to successful ad campaigns like the Pepsi Generation and hip stars like Michael Jackson and Madonna. In other words, Coke was becoming known as old stogy and Pepsi was quickly becoming the choice for the young and cool. Suffice to say, Coca Cola needed an edge to regain the ground it had lost. What better way to do that then to launch a new formula?
At this point, you might know the broad strokes of it. Coke changed its formula, it was a disaster, and they reversed course and brought back the "Classic" formula (under the banner Coca Cola Classic) and everyone lived happily ever after, dumping on a bad mistake that never should have happened in the first place.
However, there is one bit of this story no one ever mentions. The end of that story, isn't quite what actually happened. Here's the thing: Old Coke never actually came back.
Many people have theorized the New Coke stunt wasn't actually to revive a slowly dying brand, but to make it cheaper to produce by removing the last extracts of the cocoa plant and replacing it with the ever-harmful and well-hated High Fructose Corn Syrup. That isn't so much a theory since that's exactly what happened. Coca Cola Classic that existed before New Coke never actually came back on the market. The True New Coke is the one you currently by at the supermarket to this day. The bait and switch worked, and they got us all good.
You can see the whole story of New Coke above, and it is quite interesting. But do not think the consumer actually won at the end of the day. We never actually got Coca Cola Classic back, despite what we were told. Old Coke is still dead, and it's still not coming back.
Just goes to show you that the truth isn't always what it's sold as. Sometimes there's a hidden reality waiting between the cracks.
Have yourself a good weekend, and a great Veteran's Day!
"Many people have theorized the New Coke stunt wasn't actually to revive a slowly dying brand, but to make it cheaper to produce by removing the last extracts of the cocoa plant and replacing it with the ever-harmful and well-hated High Fructose Corn Syrup. That isn't so much a theory since that's exactly what happened. Coca Cola Classic that existed before New Coke never actually came back on the market."
ReplyDeleteCoca-Cola still contains coca leaf extract. They get it from the Stepan Company in New Jersey.
https://nj1015.com/jersey-puts-the-coca-in-coca-cola/
https://nypost.com/2023/04/01/nj-factory-imports-cocaine-plant-for-coca-cola-due-to-dea-arrangement/
Also, Coca-Cola started using high-fructose corn syrup in 1980, and had fully switched over to it in 1984, a year before introducing New Coke.
You can still get Coca-Cola that's more or less the same as it was pre-1980 by buying Mexican Coca-Cola (that is to say, the type of Coca-Cola made in Mexico with pure cane sugar expressly for export to the U.S. - the kind actually sold in Mexico contains sucralose).
However, one must be careful now, as there is now a type of Mexican Coca-Cola containing high-fructose corn syrup being sold in at least one place in America (San Antonio). However, it appears that the version with cane sugar is still intended to be sold for the foreseeable future. You can tell the two apart by the cap color. The cane sugar version has a red cap, while the high-fructose corn syrup version has a green cap.
https://www.expressnews.com/food/article/mexican-coke-san-antonio-cane-sugar-17843506.php