Coca-Cola Will Revive New Coke in Alliance With Netflix, 'Stranger Things'

[Eugene]

Source: Variety

Coca-Cola Will Revive New Coke in Alliance With Netflix, ‘Stranger Things’

By BRIAN STEINBERG

A rush of TV watchers to streaming video has prompted Coca-Cola to test an interesting pour.

Coca-Cola will bring New Coke back to market for a brief time, all part of a partnership with Netflix, which has featured Coke in its cult-favorite series “Stranger Things.” The third season of the series, set in 1985, will weave New Coke into select episodes, and so the streaming-video outlet approached the beverage giant about taking part in a promotion that will boost the return of the series as well as the company’s flagship drink.

The formula for New Coke has languished in the Atlanta vaults of The Coca-Cola Company for years, left to collect dust after an ill-fated launch in 1985. More than thirty years later, the company thinks consumers will clamor for the beverage they once declined to love.

“This is uncharted territory for us,” says Geoff Cottrill, senior vice president of strategic marketing for Coca-Cola North America, in an interview. “We want to look for ways to work with Netflix, but only in ways that don’t interrupt consumers, and don’t get in the way of the entertainment. If we can find ways to integrate authentically and add value to the experience, then we want to be a part of it.”

-snip-

Read more: https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/coca-cola-new-coke-netflix-stranger-things-1203221943/

[OhZone]

1. y tho

[Auggie]

2. WTF? Seriously???

I would think Coke would want to bury this blunder. I was working at McCann-Erickson at its introduction -- Coke's ad agency -- and we had some of the very first sips. We expected it would be a failure. So did the the local bottlers.

Maybe Eleven can send the formula and the whole New Coke team to the Upside Down.

[unblock]

3. i always assumed either it was always intended to be a complementary product

i.e., that the plan from the get-go was to temporarily "replace" real coke with new coke, then after the inevitable clamoring, reintroduce real coke (classic coke) with another pre-planned ad campaign, and then sell both products side-by-side.

i guess it played out that way for a while, but it wasn't until later that i was convinced it was not at all planned that way.


to this day i remain baffled as to why coca-cola would have majorly messed with a product that people consume *largely out of habit*. consistency is the name of the game here.

did the test-marketing results just give them really, really bad insights into how new coke would perform??

[Auggie]

9. I'll bet New Coke was cheaper to produce

Even a savings of 1/100 of a cent per can adds up. I haven’t a clue if they did, however our assessment at work is that New Coke didn’t have the same “bite” as old Coke. Maybe they watered it down too.

You really don’t change a recipe unless the old recipe is really bad or it costs too much to produce.

[unblock]

10. iirc, new coke was a bit sweeter, but with an odd aftertaste.

i think they were trying to cut in on pepsi territory, as pepsi tastes sweeter and, as you say, with less bite.

the change in formula is actually more material than just a fractional cost. my understanding is that the "original formula" has actually been quietly adjusted a number of times over the years because ingredients don't taste the same as they did over a century ago.

some of those minor adjustments could have been for cost as well.

but this was different, they weren't trying to make adjustments to keep the taste the same, they were trying for a new taste entirely.

[targetpractice]

4. Coca-Cola -- Hecho en Mexico

I love this stuff. Less difficult to find recently... Expensive, though.

I think Coca-Cola is one of the best flavor combinations invented by mankind... Especially, before New Coke... My conspiracy theory is that Coca-Cola introduced New Coke to the market to make people forget the old version with cane sugar... Later, they admitted defeat and re-introduced Coca-Cola Classic, but with High Fructose Corn Syrup instead of sugar... Hoping enough time had passed that people would have forgotten the original flavor. Coca-Cola Classic with HFC is what we have now. Meh. Mexican Coke is the closest I've ever tasted to the original Coke with real sugar. Years ago I liked Pepsi Throwback with real sugar.

[montanacowboy]

6. They need to start distributing

the Mexican Coke enmasse

Jesus, what the hell are they hiding it for? It's hard enough to find and cost and arm and a leg, sometimes $2/bottle.

If you are a Costco member you can buy the bigger bottles there for a decent price.

They keep rationing it at grocery stores and hide it in places where you would not be looking for soft drinks.

[targetpractice]

8. It finally showed up in my IGA in CT...

It's happening... Nice 4-pack, with nice cardboard packaging/logo design... for $5.99 for 4.

Quite different from digging around bodegas in NYC amongst the imported Fanta and Tipo Chico. In those cases, it came in super scratched recycled green bottles... The newly distributed ones are in fresh clean bottles with nice labels.

[lark]

5. They can advertise all they want, nothing would make me drink Coke of any type.

I really dislike carbonated sodas and drink zero of them in any given year, so pfftt. They are awful and do nothing good for the body at all, just harm - plus they taste disgusting IMO.

[Blue Owl]

7. And America can be disappointed all over again...

n/t