Catfight: New Coke vs. Crystal Pepsi

[garret]

Whch market failure was better?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d8/Crystal-pepsi.jpg/300px-Crystal-pepsi.jpg

or...

http://www.colawp.com/database/image.php?cola_id=506

[skittlebrau]

I'm showing my age when I say I distinctly remember drinking both colas when they were around.

But that happened so long ago, I've gotten over it. Crystal Pepsi, I suppose.

[caribou]

Crystal Pepsi was the best. Used to always make my dad pick up a two liter bottle of the stuff every time we left Pizza Hut. Was it just Pepsi without caramel coloring? Sure. Did it matter? No.

I was only a toddler when New Coke came out, so I don't remember ever having it. What I am puzzled about is that, according to New Coke's Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke), the New Coke formula was still being sold until the early 90s, and was even bottled under the name Coke II starting in 1992. I don't remember this at all.

[Kuje]

I don't think we had either over here, but we did have Tab Clear- which I was infatuated with. I vote Tab Clear.

[caribou]

Isn't Tab like, a very opaque, light pink anyway?

[DotheBartman]

Mmm...invisible cola....

But man, I have no idea, being so young at the time. Crystal Pepsi actually looks pretty appetizing from that picture though. Kinda like Sprite.

[Dennis]

I'm too young to have tried either of those, but I desperately want both. Pepsi that looks like water? That's what dreams are made of.

[box elder]

Kinda like Sprite.


it wasn't like Sprite. it tried to taste like regular pepsi, only with no color and no caffiene. it was gross.

but Coke actually tried replacing their formula, so Crystal Pepsi gets my vote just for not having that kind of audacity.

[skittlebrau]

I'm still a firm believer that Coke had no intention of ever replacing their formula. It was all just a brilliant marketing ploy.

[Ignignot]

I read somewhere that Pepsi was outselling Coke. So coke introduced NEW COKE and it sucked. Then when they brought back the old, everyone missed it so much they bought tons of coke and it became more popular again.

[grissom]

Never actually drank either one, but Crystal Pepsi looks way cooler. I heard New Coke tasted like shit anyway

[kuumuus]

I read somewhere that Pepsi was outselling Coke. So coke introduced NEW COKE and it sucked. Then when they brought back the old, everyone missed it so much they bought tons of coke and it became more popular again.

that's what i heard. genius marketing ploy if it's true.

voted crystal pepsi because it looks and sounds cooler.

[Dead Nigga Storage]

except the poll asks which was the bigger failure.

at least EVERYONE remembers at least hearing about crystal pepsi. not like that with 'new coke'. i don't know which way to vote because everyone seems to have voted for different reasons or with different interpretations of the poll's meaning. crystal pepsi was the better product.

[Mike Novick]

except the poll asks which was the bigger failure.

at least EVERYONE remembers at least hearing about crystal pepsi. not like that with 'new coke'. i don't know which way to vote because everyone seems to have voted for different reasons or with different interpretations of the poll's meaning. crystal pepsi was the better product.

Mr. President you must be more decisive on these matters!

[kuumuus]

except the poll asks which was the bigger failure.


no, it asks which failure was better. nyah

90% of us (read: non-oldsters) have no business voting anyway.

[mayo]

never had new coke....


yet, i remember crystal pepsi. shit was the bomb. if they brought it back, it'd be come count plus a million.

uh.
yeah.

[ehren]

Crystal Pepsi, natch. circa 1992 formula though, before they changed the flavor. also gets my vote due to their using Van Halen's 'Right Now' in their commercials.

[Nerd Groupie]

Crystal Pepsi was the shit.

Crystal Pepsi, natch. circa 1992 formula though, before they changed the flavor. also gets my vote due to their using Van Halen's 'Right Now' in their commercials.

How odd, we had a conversation about this at work, and someone brought up that exact point.

[Talking Pie]

I was probably too young for New Coke. I was about 4 or 5 back then so I don't have any memories about it. I remember tasting (and liking) Crystal Pepsi back then when I was a 12 year old 6th grader. I'll say this...it's better than the awful Pepsi One. Plus, Van Hagar...nuff said.

[aoife]

Crystal Pepsi all the way!! :animal: One of the worst inventions in all of human history.

[SideshowTim]

they were both awful but new coke was slightly better.

[America: Fuck Yea!]

The Great Coca-Cola Conspiracy
The New Coke campaign of the early 80's was considered one of the biggest marketing failures ever. Well, it's not. It is in fact one of the most brilliant and immoral marketing strategies in history. This is all true, just look on any can of Coke.

In the 1980's when Bill Cosby declared that Coke would change it's formula, it was a huge scam to save Coke money. You see, the Coca-Cola corporation never dreamed that people would like New Coke. What they wanted was to release a substitute Coke product with a noticeably different taste. They would keep this on the market until all of the old Coke was sold and people couldn't get it anymore.

Eventually, Coke co. claimed (quite rightly) that people missed old Coke and demanded it's return. As a consequence, Coke vowed to rerelease the original Coke as Coke Classic. They never did. What they did do was bring back the original recipe, but with (significantly cheaper) corn syrup instead of sugar.

Everyone would have noticed if they had just made the switch directly. Coke would have been forced to return to the original, more expensive, product. But since Classic Coke tasted passably similar to old Coke, people just assumed it was the same, since no one had had any in so long.

So now you can only get original Coke in the US on Passover (look for Kosher for Passover Coke from about mid March, it will either say KP, or just look for Hebrew letters). Since corn is not kosher for Passover, they release the true original formula with sugar.

In Europe, Coke is still made with real sugar.

[Kuje]

I didn't know that about the Passover coke, interesting. I read all the wiki pages on coke, pepsi, tab, crystal, lemon, lime etc. the other day for some reason. Apparently it's sweetened with something called aspartame which has numerous links to various illnesses.

[rickey]

http://snopes.com/cokelore/cokelore.asp

it'll talk all about it.

[Lizard Queen]

Crystal Pepsi was so yummy. I miss it.

[do what donny dont does]

I saw people getting into heated arguments over New Coke. Looking back, fighting over soda is ridiculous, but people felt strongly about their Coke.

If im not mistaken, they sold the new Coke and Coke Classic for several years.

[Sloppy Jimbo IV]

the funny thing about new coke is that if you ever see it lying around a shelf somewhere you wouldnt immediately recognize that it's over a decade old

im posting from the hospital btw

[Ryan]

they were both awful but new coke was slightly better.

Was either product ever available here? I dont recall having ever seen or tasted them. I seem to remember a caramel flavoured cola, there was pepsi blue and pepsi samba..

[Sloppy Jimbo IV]

there was invisible cola

but i never saw it :rimshot:

[SideshowTim]

Was either product ever available here? I dont recall having ever seen or tasted them. I seem to remember a caramel flavoured cola, there was pepsi blue and pepsi samba..
i remember having new coke in america but i'm certain crystal pepsi was out here for a brief period. just like pepsi blue. whatever happened to that awful drink?

[grissom]

I remember drinking Pepsi Blue a few years ago. God, that stuff tasted like shit

[Ryan]

Pepsi blue WAS shit. Berry flavoured color? Ugh.

Did you guys ever get pepsi samba? It was a tropical flavour. Tamarind and Mango or something.

[SideshowTim]

Pepsi blue WAS shit. Berry flavoured color? Ugh.

Did you guys ever get pepsi samba? It was a tropical flavour. Tamarind and Mango or something.
yeah, i still got a couple of bottles in my garage for some reason.

[Ryan]

Tsk tsk, what a waste. There's $1.50-$3.00 you won't ever get back. Not even the 5c bottle refund south australians know and love

[Rowdy]

Crystal Pepsi wasn't bad, to be honest. New Coke is the Hindenburg of soda failures.