The reformulated Coca-Cola introduced in 1985 was called New Coke. The Coca-Cola Company launched it in the United States on April 23, 1985, after changing the flavor of its flagship soft drink.
The reformulation followed years of pressure from Pepsi and changing consumer tastes. Coca-Cola’s market share had fallen, and blind taste tests suggested that many participants preferred Pepsi’s sweeter flavor. The company’s new formula tested well, but executives underestimated how strongly customers identified Coca-Cola with its original taste and history.
The public reaction was intensely negative. Coca-Cola received tens of thousands of complaints, and many consumers demanded the return of the old formula. On July 11, 1985—less than three months after the launch—the company brought back the original drink as Coca-Cola Classic.
New Coke was not the same product as Diet Coke, Coke Zero, or Pepsi. It was a replacement formula for regular Coca-Cola, later renamed Coke II in 1990. Its failure became one of marketing’s best-known cautionary tales about changing a familiar brand.