ON THIS DAY IN UNITED STATES HISTORY
April 23, 1985
New Coke is Introduced
On this day in 1985, Coca-Cola Company announced that they had replaced their soft drink Coca-Cola with a new
formula. Reaction to this change was negative and proved to be a major marketing blunder.
The next day, Pepsi-Cola, the maker of their main competitor, took advantage of the publicity by giving their
employees the day off, and declaring a victory in the "cola-wars" for forcing Coca-Cola to change its formula.
Although the new taste did gain acceptance from many coke drinkers, ultimately the backlash was so intense that
Coca-Cola was forced to return to the original formula.
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