Remember When Pepsi Challenged Coke Into An Identity Crisis?

While "Is Pepsi okay?" has now become an iconic statement uttered by waiters around the United States to soften the blow that their restaurant doesn't carry Coca-Cola products, Coke's superiority in the soft drink department was actually not so secure at one point in time.

The Pepsi Challenge was an experiment done by the Pepsi company to prove that, without direct marketing or the iconic red and blue cans to sway their opinion, consumers would choose the taste of Pepsi over Coca-Cola. While the idea was far-fetched, as Coca-Cola was the king of soft drinks for decades prior, it actually worked; the campaign's commercial showcased impressive results that leaned in Pepsi's favor, and this had obviously shaken The Coca-Cola Company.

This challenge, along with the nerve-wracking statistics that Pepsi was on the road to pull ahead of Coke to become America's favorite soft drink (including the former's superior sales in grocery stores and supermarkets), was enough to scare Coke into making a drastic decision. In 1985, Coca-Cola made the extremely controversial announcement that it was changing Coke's formula. And while the company itself refers to this fiasco as "the biggest risk in consumer goods history," that does not mean it came with a positive reaction.

New Coke, Coke Classic, and regular old Pepsi

While the new Coke actually shockingly beat out Coke Classic and Pepsi in a taste test, the reinvented Coke with all-new formula sparked immediate outrage. Coca-Cola received over 400,000 letters pressing the company to return to the old taste. In order to combat the angry customers, the old formula returned with a new name: "Coke Classic." Its less popular counterpart was still sold under the name "New Coke." The New Coke was introduced on April 23, 1985, and it only took less than three months for the company's executives to announce that the beloved original Coke formula would return in a press conference on July 11.

It was that easy to win the drink's loyal customers back. While Pepsi did end up pulling ahead of Coca-Cola that year, Classic Coke stayed as the fan-favorite formula, and the soft drink pulled ahead of its competitor in 1986. Today, Coca-Cola still holds the title for most popular soda in the United States (and some chains that carry Pepsi products are making the switch to Coke). Diet Coke has also proven worthy as a competitor as well, as it is not only extremely popular, but also one Chowhound deemed one of the best diet sodas on the market. New Coke is unfortunately one of the discontinued sodas that are never coming back, having left shelves in 2002, though it returned for a short time in 2019 when Coca-Cola teamed up with "Stranger Things" to promote the show's third season. For those who missed their shot in 2019 and still want to try New Coke, many cynics on Reddit tell curious consumers to "just drink a Pepsi."

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