New Coke

The story of the Fake Thing.

Contents:
0:00 Coke Is It!
2:58 No Sacred Cows
10:15 The Best Just Got Better
15:00 Catch the Wave
20:51 We Read, and We Listened
24:32 The Real Thing

[SolarSands]

"The release of new coke was the only time he ever agreed with Castro" as someone who has grandparents who escaped Cuba, that is the most savage roast I have ever heard from a Cuban relative.

[CZsWorld]

Her Slurm will taste foul. Which is why we'll market it as New Slurm. Then, when everyone hates it, we'll bring back Slurm Classic, and make billions!

[cartmann]

As a former Coke executive once put it when asked about the theory that they failed New Coke on purpose so that Coca Cola Classic could succeed “We’re not that dumb and we’re not that smart.”

[gibby]

The fact that guy lived by new coke and drank it until he died shows he actually stood by it, or he was petty af which is also comdendable

[POSTELVIS]

The fact that people spoke about new coke as if a family member had died just goes to prove what kind of grasp some companies have on us. Literally it was like they stopped manufacturing water.

[rixrobin]

The crazy thing is that the marketing is so ingrained in our culture that it has literally become color association. Early in the video when you removed the coke logo and made it grey my mind instantly went to Diet Coke because that’s how they do their branding.

[Uniquenameosaurus]

When you mentioned the CEO was a Cuban refugee, I was like "Wonder why he bothered to mention that"
The irony the Fidel Castro set off the dominos that killed his favourite drink was such a hilarious connection to make.

[bunsenn]

Imagine if Coke never actually changed the recipe, they just named it “New” Coke as a social experiment to see what would happen

[gamesndebunker]

This guy could make the history of the phone book interesting

[Haaambuurger]

From what I've heard, New Coke was better tasting when you just had a few sips, but was much less enjoyable if you had multiple cans or a big bottle. Coke's biggest consumers were (and are) the people who practically drink it instead of water. Imagine if they somehow changed the taste of all the water you drank, and you couldn't stomach it anymore, you'd probably start protesting.

[geoffstockton]

The idea of Bill Cosby being worried about new Coke ruining his credibility had me in tears laughing.

[chaselegoman]

Oh, to live in a time where advertising a failed soda was considered "hurting his credibility."

[shame]

The fact that Bill Cosby left Coca Cola because the company _"hurt his credibility"_ is priceless.

[Mattmann]

Reminds me of when they stopped making twinkies in 2012 for a while. I remember one woman on the news crying not just at the thought of her never eating a twinkie again, but of her kids never getting the experience either. That was when I realized how strong the bonds of branding can truly be, and none of us are safe from it.

[starlight]

"our children will never know refreshment"

I could not possibly imagine loving a soda so much that you make a sign and protest about it

[Larry]

I've had New Coke, if anyone wants to know what it EXACTLY tastes like, get a can of Pepsi and a can of Coke and mix it 80% Pepsi, 20% Coke and you have New Coke.

[kadennelms]

My grandpa worked for coke for decades. As a salesman he was able to keep some bottles of the old coke, new coke and classic coke. He keeps them up on a wall. Pretty cool

[zacharyparker]

Fun fact about Coke: In the Soviet Union, Coca-Cola was considered a symbol of American imperialism. When Dwight D. Eisenhower befriended Soviet general Georgy Zhukov during World War 2, he introduced Zhukov to Coca-Cola and he loved it. In order to avoid being branded as a traitor, Zhukov requested a colorless Coke so he could disguise it as vodka. It was pretty much Crystal Pepsi but fifty years early.

[Glassandcandy]

When I was a kid we always went to this one ethnic gas station because they imported coke bottles from Mexico— the reason why we did this was because these particular bottles of coke still used cane sugar instead of corn syrup. I can’t tell you how much better this version of coke is. It’s just as sweet without the terrible aftertaste— it’s like a capitalist ambrosia.

[Diwasho]

People in the 80's: "This is awful, now our kids and their kids will never know the taste of the REAL Coke"
Their kids and grandkids: "This is awful, now we'll never know the taste of improved Coke"