On this date in 1985, one of the most heinous corporate crimes in history was committed: the introduction of New Coke. Coke drinkers were not amused. They gathered up their torches and pitchforks and laid siege to Coca Cola headquarters in Atlanta. OK, not literally, but I have no doubt the thought crossed the minds of millions of Coke drinkers. It was a dark time in history. I’ll always remember it as the time Bill Cosby lied to me.
After 79 days of hiding under their desks, Coca Cola executives relented and did the only sensible thing: they brought back the original recipe, now dubbed Coke Classic. The new formulation was kept on as Coke II, targeted, no doubt at people who wanted a Pepsi-ish drink, but preferred drinking it from a red can for some reason.
Further reading:
Coke Lore – The Real Story of New Coke
Snopes – Knew Coke
Wikipedia – New Coke
Nobody Move! 
This was heinous beyond the scope of humanity. It is also why I have trust issues 😀
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No shit.
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Hey, at least Dr. Pepper remained true to its heritage. 😉
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That’s “Dr Pepper”. No period!! 😉
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No period means no PMS. Another reason to be a fan. 😛
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God dammit, years of therapy over this laid to waste by your careless remembrance.
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Shrinks gotta make a living too.
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John D.:
Agreed that this was indeed…a crime against humanity.
But all this never REALLY went away.
They just “re-branded” it.
–Caffeine-free Coke
–Vanilla Coke
–Cherry Coke
–Coke ZERO
–Coca Cola w/ lemon (or lime)
I won’t even get into the other name brands they make in other nations.
Then, soon following the late 80s, there was that OTHER other
“coke” that came into MANY neighborhoods…and never left.
😉
It should have clued us in back THEN, that our society was headed in a bad direction.
Now, we have more DIET soda than everything else, all the while studies say it’s NOT good for ‘ya (less good than regular soda anyway).
God, how I miss FOUNTAIN sodas!
Good call.
Roll safe out there.
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I hope my comment posted…don’t see it.
😮
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John D.:
(let’s try posting AGAIN)
Agreed – a crime against humanity.
Not to mention ALL the incarnations of Coke that came along after that…
None of ti went away – they just re-branded it all.
Add to this, that OTHER other “coke” that came to cities across America in the late 80s…and never left.
Good call.
Roll safe out there.
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That was a crime against humanity. Never forget…
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There should be a memorial of some kind.
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Reblogged this on Bring the heat, Bring the Stupid and commented:
Not everything during the Reagan administration went right.
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True, but we got two (good) sequels to Star Wars, anyway.
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And thanks for the reblog.
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New Coke was designed to fail. It came out to hide the switch from sugar to High Fructose Corn Syrup. The only way to get real Coke is to buy MexiCoke (Coke made in Mexico with sugar).
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I’ve heard that theory before. Not sure why they’d go to such lengths though. I doubt I could tell the difference between the two sweeteners.
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John D:
None of my comments showed up????
(another bug in the bait shop?)
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John D.:
Having a devil of a time posting comments.
Hope this one works.
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Your comments got stuck in moderation for some reason. You should be good to go now.
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New Coke…about as good as Crystal Pepsi…..
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