Coca-Cola changes the flavor of Coke Zero, risking a backlash

Coca-Cola changed the flavor of its soda in 1985 and angered a nation.

Now the business is starting over, risking another uproar. This time he’s changing the taste and appearance of one of his most popular non-alcoholic drinks: Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, better known as Coke Zero, the diet derivative that’s supposed to closely resemble the sweet version. “classic” Coke.

Company officials said on Tuesday the plan was to change the drink to “deliver an even more iconic taste of coca.”

Anxious Americans, or at least those who drink Coke Zero regularly, will be the judge.

Already, on social media, concern and apprehension have greeted the impending change. Some consumers have promised to switch to other drinks, like Diet Dr Pepper, or have threatened to switch to the drink from Coca-Cola’s big rival, Pepsi.

Others recalled the marketing debacle of 1985, when Coca-Cola unveiled “The New Coke,” a sweeter version of the original soft drink that was rejected by many consumers.

A waitress in Detroit told the New York Times that year that the soda was “flat and too sweet.” A writer from Florida called this a “tragedy of taste.” A spokesperson for Pepsi-Cola said it was “a great opportunity for us.”

This change was an attempt to stave off the growing success of Pepsi, which was beginning to shrink Coca-Cola’s market share.

But consumers hated New Coke. In June 1985, the company was receiving 1,500 calls per day on its consumer hotline.

“People seemed to hold any Coca-Cola employee – from security guards at our head office to their neighbors who worked for Coke – personally responsible for the change,” according to a detailed account of the fiasco on the Coke website. company, which describes the episode as one of the “most memorable marketing mistakes of all time.”

The flavor change angered people so much that an episode of the sitcom “The Golden Girls” made reference to the fury in a joke, consumers stored cans of the original and at least one lawsuit attempted to do so. return Coca-Cola to its original formula. (A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying he preferred Pepsi.)

In July 1985, after only three months, the company announced that it would restore the original Coca-Cola, now renamed “Coca-Cola Classic”, to store shelves. “If this is what the consumer wants, this is what we will give them,” said Charles Millard, president of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York, after the about-face.

This time around, the change is unlikely to elicit the same sort of reaction, despite some of the early grunts, said Doug Bowman, professor of marketing at Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

“It’s a strategy where Coke tries to stay ahead of the market,” he said.

In general, consumers have become accustomed to beverage companies changing and adapting popular drinks. Professor Bowman noted that in the nearly 40 years since the New Coke kerfuffle, vodka companies have introduced the flavors of vanilla, lime and peach; popular beer brands have experienced a myriad of tastes; and Coke and Pepsi have both tried their hand at fruit varieties.

Coca-Cola even made a limited supply of “New Coke” available in 2019 as part of a promotion related to “Stranger Things,” the supernatural thriller set in the 1980s.

The changes heralded in the new Coke Zero are subtle in comparison, he said.

“It’s hard to see anyone except the most hard-line people at Coke Zero Sugar noticing the difference,” said Professor Bowman, who from 2002 to 2004 taught Emory courses to employees at Coke Zero Sugar. Coca-Cola as part of a company-funded program.

Natalia Suarez, senior brand manager at Coca-Cola, said in a statement that the company has cobbled together the recipe for soda because, in order to continue to grow, “we must continue to challenge ourselves to innovate and differentiate ourselves. as have other iconic brands “.

She added, “The consumer landscape is constantly changing, which means we have to evolve to stay ahead. “

Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, which the company launched in 2005, has already changed its flavor. In 2017, the company said the product had been “reformulated” to taste more like standard Coca-Cola.

In its statement, the company said the new change “optimizes the existing flavors of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and existing ingredients.”

Although the company did not specify what this process would look like, it did promised on social media that he wouldn’t change the ingredients, which include soda water, caramel coloring, phosphoric acid, aspartame, caffeine, and potassium benzoate.