jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) (07/18/85)
When the announcement was made that the new Coke would be replacing the old,
almost everybody was saying, "why are they doing it? It doesn't make sense."
When it actually came out, they were wondering even more, because the
concensus seemed to be that the old Coke (Classic) was better than the new.
However, all I had to do was taste the stuff and I knew why. I get the
impression that pretty well all the contributors to this news group prefer the
taste of Classic Coke to that of any other Cola, past or present. However,
a visible fraction of cola drinkers prefer Pepsi. In fact, I hated the old
Coke and would never buy it or even drink it (except the occasional taste to
make sure I still hated it). Most of the people who prefer Pepsi do not feel
as strongly about it as I do, but would still go out of their way to buy a
case of Pepsi instead of Coke. However, Coke is much more widely available,
especially at restaurants and fast food places, and usually costs less in
supermarkets (at least around here anyway), so it sometimes takes a lot of
effort to avoid it. By making a new Coke that tastes more like Pepsi,
they lessened the amount by which Pepsi lovers prefer Pepsi over Coke, thereby
reducing the probability that we would take the extra effort to buy Pepsi.
It certainly worked with me. I like the new Coke enough to buy whichever
of the two colas (Coke & Pepsi) is cheaper or easier to get, which is usually
Coke. Coke enthusiasts, on the other hand, could no longer get their favourite
cola taste, so they'd have to settle for the best (or cheapest, or easiest to
get) of what's left, which is probably new Coke. That seemed to be what was
happening, judging by the reaction of the old Coke lovers I know. So Coke
gets a large chunk of the Pepsi market without sacrificing the old Coke lovers.
What I don't understand is why they're bringing back the old formula.
Several theories have been put forth in this news group, but to me none of
them seem sufficient to justify what must be a large cost and hassle.
The only reason that could be worth the cost is that the new formula isn't
working. Even if I and the people I know are not a representative sample
of the market, I don't see how the new formula can fail, unless the old
Coke lovers hate the new stuff so much that they're not drinking any cola now
(as I probably would if both Pepsi and Coke tasted like Coke's old formula).
Anyway, as a Pepsi lover and a Classic Coke hater, I was disappointed when
I heard that the old Coke was coming back. Sure I'm in favour of Coke lovers
being able to choose their favourite formula, but I'm afraid that Classic
Coke will return to its former popularity at the expense of new Coke, which
would once again make it much more difficult for me to get a cola I like.
--
Jeff Richardson, DCIEM, Toronto (416) 635-2073
{linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,floyd}!utcsri!dciem!jeff
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!dciem!jeffwoods@hao.UUCP (Greg Woods) (07/24/85)
> What I don't understand is why they're bringing back the old formula. > .... Even if I and the people I know are not a representative sample > of the market, I don't see how the new formula can fail, unless the old > Coke lovers hate the new stuff so much that they're not drinking any cola now > (as I probably would if both Pepsi and Coke tasted like Coke's old formula). This is close. What people often forget is that there *are* other competitors for Coke besides Pepsi. There are other colas, and other non-cola carbonated beverages. Coke clearly put too much weight on blind taste tests, and forgot that there is a "traditional" loyalty to the old Coke. And I still claim I can tell the old Coke apart from Pepsi in a blind test (but I couldn't make the same claim for new Coke) --Greg -- {ucbvax!hplabs | allegra!nbires | decvax!noao | harpo!seismo | ihnp4!noao} !hao!woods CSNET: woods@NCAR ARPA: woods%ncar@CSNET-RELAY "Comes a time, when a blind man takes your hand, says don't you see..."