July 10th: The Day Coca Cola Returned to our Shelves

Cokelore

July 10th 1985 was the day that the Coca-Cola Company caved to its customers and resumed the original product, replacing their newly launched 'New Coke'. Seventy eight days earlier back in April, the company had decided to re-brand Coca-Cola to a new formula, subsequently the first formula change in 99 years.
   The fact is that 'New Coke' flopped. Hugely. It was named 'the marketing blunder of the century', thousands protested against this new formula, and some even hoarded the 'old' coke at home, refusing to buy the re-branded product. 
   Despite these being the facts, the Coca-Cola Company pass their failure off as success. Ten years on, chairman and chief executive Roberto Guizueta claimed that: 'We set out to change the dynamics of sugar colas in the United States, and we did exactly that - albeit not in the way we had planned. But the most significant result of 'New Coke' - by far, was that it sent an incredibly powerful signal...' Yeah, right...
   According to Coca-Cola Company, the change to 'New Coke' was strategic and made them realise just how 'special' their product was to the consumers and the U.S. I may be wrong, but the popularity of 'Coca-Cola' might be to do with the lame and unimaginative name 'New Coke'. 
I imagine the boardroom pretty much went like this:
- 'So yeah, we need a new branding for our Coke.'
- 'Hmmm, something new. About Coke...' 
- 'How about 'New Coke'?' 
Meeting dismissed.