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New Coke, 35 years on

independent.co.uk

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Re: New Coke, 35 years on

#91

Post by WalterBright »

function_seven wrote: post #90
WalterBright wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coke in the glass bottle is the best Coke, because there is more carbonation. The plastic bottles are the worst because of the lowest carbonation.

Is that why I hate plastic bottle soda? I've always chalked it up to some sort of either: (a) Taste taint from the container, where whatever they line cans with is better than the PET of the bottle, or (b) The warmer container temperature due to plastic not conducting heat as well as aluminum, causing me to think that the drink inside is warmer. (In other words, psychological issues while drinking from the plastic bo…

I think it is because the plastic container just isn't as strong, so they reduce the carbolic acid content. The cans are stronger, and the glass bottles the strongest.

In any case, I abandoned my Coca-Cola habit about 10 years ago to improve my health. It took about a year to get over the craving for it. I don't miss it anymore.

Re: New Coke, 35 years on

#92

Post by asveikau »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #26
timcederman wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought some as part of the Stranger Things promotion, so assuming it actually does match the original recipe, it was pretty good. I did blind taste tests with the rest of the family and everyone picked New Coke as their preferred flavour. I guess the best way to describe it is it seemed a bit sweeter (but not more sugary), in the same way Tab had a sweeter flavor profile compared to Diet Coke.

Strangely, in blind taste tests, a majority of folks chose Diet Pepsi over all the others (all other Pepsi; all other Coke). Which shows, soft drink preferences are largely cultural?

Strange thing that your comment reminded me of. I can't see the phrase Diet Pepsi without picturing Ray Charles. From the commercials from the late 80s and early 90s.

Re: New Coke, 35 years on

#93

Post by NoodleIncident »

renewiltord wrote: post #89
NoodleIncident wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it strange how many people on the internet are convinced ads and branding just... don't work? They obviously do. Even if you think they don't work on you (which you're probably wrong about), they work on everyone else.

No no, I think we buy the branding thing. I'm pretty sure part of the reason I have the car I do is a branding thing, etc. etc. I'm like the #1 brand sucker on the planet. But that's at the "these guys are outdoorsy", "you're sophisticated", "you're cool" level not at the "this represents classic American values vs. this is the new generation" thing. That sounds like nonsense to me. Just clarifying that it isn't whet…

Ironically (coincidentally?), I think you can apply a direct analogy between the tastes of Coke and Pepsi, and their branding. People have a preference for one drink over the other, but they can't articulate why. Most people can't tell one from the other in a blind taste test, much less describe what specifically they prefer about one over the other. They can still taste it, though, and the experts can break down the flavors and sensations to describe the differences between the two.

I suspect the branding is perceived the same way. People pick up on all of these things, and the experts have a language to describe their branding strategy, and they're very deliberate about what they do and do not include in their ads. People don't express it or notice it consciously, but they can still tell when the marketing feels "wrong" compared to the ads they've seen before.

Re: New Coke, 35 years on

#94

Post by jasonv »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #59
NoodleIncident wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it strange how many people on the internet are convinced ads and branding just... don't work? They obviously do. Even if you think they don't work on you (which you're probably wrong about), they work on everyone else.

I didn't say they don't work. They do. And in tune with the article on averages (and curse of dimensionality) on the front page now[0], I'll happily concede that different brands may work strongly on different people at different times. Hell, myself I had periods in my youth when I had fanboy-level attachment to a brand or two. My point is that I doubt that the typical relationship with a brand is as sophisticated as…

A possible rebuttal from my corner of the peanut gallery:

https://www.coca-colacompany.com/faqs/did-coca-cola-invent-s...

Re: New Coke, 35 years on

#95

Post by kalleboo »

strbean wrote: post #86
briandear wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wikipedia says only mexican coca-kola produced for export is made with sugar). Wikipedia is wrong. When I'm in Guadalajara and buy bottles of coke locally, it has sugar. It's an anecdote, but it does disprove Wikipedia. One specific independent bottler in Mexico wanted to use HFCS, but there are other bottlers other than Arca Continental. Coca-Cola FEMSA is the largest bottler in Mexico and they use sugar.

I'm curious about the price difference between HFCS and sugar in Mexico. My understanding is that in the US, HFCS prices are artificially low due to corn subsidies while sugar prices are artificially high due to protectionist policies. I wonder if HFCS is any cheaper outside the US.

I believe in Europe, they mostly use beet sugar rather than cane or HFCS. It looks like the EU in the recent past heavily regulated their sugar market though

Japan has a high usage of HFCS (40% of sugars), and I always assumed that was due to trade agreements with the US giving access to cheap corn since there is so little domestic corn production.

Re: New Coke, 35 years on

#96

Post by kalleboo »

rustyshackleton wrote: post #85
WalterBright wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and in blind taste tests people overwhelmingly preferred the sweeter drink. I remember those taste test booths Pepsi would set up in shopping malls and such. Here's how they went for me: 1. They'd hand me two unmarked cups, one with Pepsi and one with Coke. 2. I'd take a sip from each, they'd ask me which I preferred. 3. I always knew which was the Coke, and would point to it. 4. They'd look away and say "Next!" I'…

I got a sodastream while I've been working from home and using more or less syrup gives a lot of control over how sweet your drink is. If you like soda without cloying sweetness give it a shot. I've gotten a lot of value out of it.

As a kid my dad would water down his orange juice because it was "too sweet" and I thought he was insane.

These days I water down my cola with sodastream carbonated water because it's too sweet...

Re: New Coke, 35 years on

#97

Post by froh »

teslabox wrote: post #41

I like the conspiracy theory about how the New Coke fiasco was actually deliberate subterfuge for switching the product from sugar to high fructose corn syrup. Corn-syrup coca-cola tastes different than Coca Kola's classic sugar formula, and allegedly people noticed the difference when the Coca-Cola company was doing tests, pre-New Coke. My cousin-in-law only drinks "Mexican Coke" (but Mexicans drinking coca-cola in…

The problem with hfcs is much higher obesity and diabetes type 2 risk, not Mercury.

https://youtu.be/dBnniua6-oM

Re: New Coke, 35 years on

#98

Post by kiplkipl »

majormajor wrote: post #62
kiplkipl wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. So now using the old definition can be ambiguous and has to be replaced by something 'wordier'. I can't do anything about it but I do think it's a shame.

The idea that "rightful entitlement" has a much older heritage than "perceived entitlement" doesn't seem supported: https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4240 > The earliest cluster of uses of entitlement meaning "(rightful) claim" that I've found is associated with post-WWII veterans' benefits, as in this 1947 Popular Mechanics ad > In the 1960s, psychoanalysts also start using entitled and entitlement with stron…

>Meanwhile, by the 1970s, the phrase entitlement programs is being used in its modern sense (defined benefits paid by the federal government)

Right, but that's not the modern sense for the 1.2 billion English speakers who are not in the US

Re: New Coke, 35 years on

#99

Post by JoeAltmaier »

wolco wrote: post #48
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe not "heavily". It was 2B out of a 50B corn crop. So, 4% classed as 'heavily subsidized'? And a large portion of this is in the form of insurance against bad weather/crop loss. Otherwise, we'd have no farmers left in a couple of year (everybody has a crop loss once in a while). FWIW.

They invested to get the market to 50b at the expensive of other products that could have been grown. The 2b figure just helps keep the edges from fraying.

If something else had been supported to get that generous crop, we'd be dissing it now. Like VHS vs Betamax, Corn won early and it won big. Not surprising it went like that; so many things do.

Anyway it'd cost trillions to retool for some other staple crop now.

Re: New Coke, 35 years on

#100

Post by 7thaccount »

MivLives wrote: post #53
timcederman wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought some as part of the Stranger Things promotion, so assuming it actually does match the original recipe, it was pretty good. I did blind taste tests with the rest of the family and everyone picked New Coke as their preferred flavour. I guess the best way to describe it is it seemed a bit sweeter (but not more sugary), in the same way Tab had a sweeter flavor profile compared to Diet Coke.

Also grabbed it as I was pretty sure it's the only chance I'd ever get to try it. Reminded me of Pepsi a lot, like a Pepsi made by Coke. Much lighter and sweeter tasting. Honestly probably would have done well if they hadn't used Coke branding on it. Personally I like cane sugar Coke, or stevia Coke over it. Fun fact Coke is the one beverage I know of that you can buy with five different sweeteners: - Cane sugar - Hi…

Mexican Coke has cane sugar and it definitely seems more pleasant and less syrupy
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