A Coke by Any Other Name: What New Coke Can Teach about Having Trust, Losing Trust, and Gaining It Back Again

Abstract

For 99 years, Coca-Cola sold itself as an American icon made with a secret recipe that was locked away in an Atlanta vault. Then, in 1985, in an attempt to compete with Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola changed the taste of Coke. After an uproar, the old version of Coke was reissued as Coke Classic; New Coke faded away. Evidence shows that New Coke tasted better, so it should have been eagerly accepted by the public. But it was not. Why did changing a long-term brand to a better-tasting alternative fail? Examining this issue from both the psychological and legal dimensions, we come to understand many aspects of this failed experiment, which can be useful for other brands interested in making transitions. It is clear that if companies use psychological tools to connect consumers to a brand and trademark law tools to strengthen and protect that connection, they risk adverse reactions and criticism if they then change the brand. Tools that can guard a brand from competitors can also lock it into a cage with tightly defined expectations by the public. Because advertising through media and sports generates strong connections with these beverages, health concerns and possible future research on obesogenic behaviors are considered.