1985 Coca-Cola Launch Goes Down in History as All-Time 'Flop'
In a society where we've become the more conscious of our sugar intake, certain generations will still remember the days when the "Coke vs. Pepsi" debate was running rampant across America.
Millennials may recall the "Pepsi challenge" that ran on its own spread of commercials. And years earlier came the launch of a new spin on Coca-Cola, with an ad campaign that boasted how customers preferred it over Pepsi. Hmmm...
Thursday, April 23 marks 41 years since "New Coke" debuted in the U.S., with the soda company announcing what was supposed to be an exciting change in the original Coca-Cola formula. Check out a commercial from 1985 below promoting the all-new product - with the help of controversial comedian Bill Cosby:
Decades later, New Coke was so memorable that the business gamble is still being discussed and even taught to students - but for the wrong reasons.
Coca-Cola, which had been the world's bestselling soft drink, had been facing increasing competition from rival Pepsi, and the company had wanted to re-energize the brand, HISTORY.com reports. In blind taste tests, Sure, consumers reportedly preferred New Coke over Pepsi and the original Coke in some blind taste tests - but more imporantly, fans remained sentimentally attached to their O.G. brand and ultimately reacted quite negatively to New Coke.
Per HISTORY.com, the company was flooded with up to 8,000 calls a day from dissatisfied consumers and received some 40,000 complaint letters. The soda company quickly got the message and brought back the original formula less than three months after New Coke launched.
On July 11, 1985, 79 days after the release of New Coke, Coke's original formula returned to market, rebranded as Coca-Cola Classic. Phew!
In more recent news, Coca-Cola announced earlier this month a partnership with the America250 initiative, a year-long celebration to honor the history of the United States amid its 250th anniversary. Find out more here.
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This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 12:10 PM.