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Interesting US History
A Website Devoted to Interesting Events in U.S. History

 

 
 

 

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.