Coca-Cola Company - "New Coke" (1985-1990)

"New Coke"

After an almost decade-long war between Pepsi and Coca-Cola, the latter unofficially admitted defeat by completely reformulating the original Coca-Cola formula that had remained unchanged for over 99 years! On April 23, 1985, Coca-Cola announced the release of the new drink, unofficially titled "New Coke", which completely replaced the original Coke drink. All manufacturing of the original Coke was ceased at release. The unfortunate reality was, though, that "New Coke" tasted too similar to Pepsi, and had a weird taste to consumers that had grown close to the original formula. 40,000 angry customers filled the Coke customer service center with complaints, and 79 days into the product's lifetime, Coca-Cola CEO Roberto Goizueta announced the re-introduction of "Coca-Cola Classic" at a press conference. Sales of Coke skyrocketed following the reintroduction, and Coke pulled ahead of Pepsi eventually winning the Cola Wars. "New Coke" stayed in production until 1990, when it was re-branded as "Coke II" and was ultimately discontinued in 2002.

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