I think new coke had more to do with switching to corn syrup than anything else. Corn syrup tastes worse so you can't do a strait up switch but by introduce new Coke and then bring back the old taste with a minor change and people don't notice.
The Coke execs from the time have done interviews. When presented with the sugar -> HFCS theory they responded with "we weren't that smart". I tend to believe them.
They switched because of the "Pepsi challenge". Pepsi beat coke at taste test booths.
New Coke was Diet Coke with HFCS instead of aspartame. New Coke beat both Pepsi and Old Coke at taste test booths.
Turns out it was because when you're just doing a shot of cola people pick the sweeter one. When there's a whole can tastes differ.
They had actually switched to corn syrup before New Coke, but not all bottlers were using it yet. All bottlers did use it after. A lot of people (oddly, even in the markets that had already switched to HFCS) thought that Coke Classic was not genuinely the same as the old formula for that reason.
Well, according to Snopes this is a myth; bottlers had been allowed to use HFCS in original Coke prior to the introduction of New Coke. Here's what Wikipedia has to say:
The new product continued to be sold and retained the name Coca-Cola (until 1992, when it was officially renamed Coca-Cola II), so the old product was named Coca-Cola Classic, also called Coke Classic, later just Coke and for a short period of time it was referred to by the public as Old Coke. Many who tasted the reintroduced formula were not convinced that the first batches really were the same formula that had supposedly been retired that spring. This is partially true because Coca-Cola Classic differed from the original formula, as all bottlers who hadn't already done so were using high fructose corn syrup instead of cane sugar to sweeten the drink
There is an interesting conspiracy theory suggesting that New Coke was released to mask the switch of sugar to HFCS in the then re-introduced Coke Classic.
The point of New Coke was to erase the taste of Coke from the memory of the consumer. What we have now is not Old Coke but in fact New New Coke - similar to the original but made with cheaper sugar.
There is not much difference between 'New Coke' and 'Coca-Cola Classic' to be honest. Both were moves to hide the fact that Coke was switching from cane sugar to HFCS. After the New Coke debacle the switch back to 'Classic' was the old formula but with HFCS. If you want a taste of what Coke used to be like you want to find Mexican Coke bottles, that is as close as you will get.
Where they really screwed up was when they changed from using sugar to high fructose corn syrup. This drastically changed the taste of Coke. If you want original Coke, you can get Mexican Coke, available from many stores, which still uses sugar.
I find American coke to be an entirely different beverage, which is almost undrinkable.
New Coke was a known bad transition. Why would I say that? All you need do is to look on a Coke can ingredients list from before New Coke and after New Coke. There will be one change:
High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Or if you wish to try the classic formula, try the Mexican version of Coca Cola. They still use the old formula using cane sugar. There is also a Kosher version of Coca Cola that uses the older recipe.
This is the first I'm ever hearing of someone saying that New Coke was preferred. They don't even make it any more. They switched from New Coke to Coke Classic. What taste tests showed New Coke as popular?
Coke did blind tests at the time that showed New Coke was more popular (it's been too long, but I feel like there were some independent tests during the scandal time as well). The outrage when they released New Coke was all about nostalgia, nothing to do with taste. People were simply offended that Coke would have the audacity to change the flavor they were accustomed to.
I still remember the scandal. It was hilarious. There was a recent redux on a smaller scale when they modified the recipe for Coke Zero.
IIRC, the big difference between diet coke and coke zero is that one is based loosely on the formula for coca cola classic, and the other new coke. That may be an urban legend, though.
Coke literally had a small amount of cocaine in it, as a stimulant, prior to new coke being released. It was grandfathered in, still allowed at that point.
New coke was released, because they were being forced to change their formula. Some say they released new coke, knowing they'd have to re-release old coke, but that by that time the average person would not accurately notice the taste change.
A friend of mine, a coke fan, kept a case of old coke. He tried the newer-old coke, side by side...
It didn't taste the same.
Some say new coke was a wild success. Loads of media attention, and they dropped the formula change in without notice...
A few years back, Coca-Cola released "Coke Life," in a green can. Very short lived, but instead of HFCS, it used a blend of cane sugar and stevia. IMO it kicked HFCS Coke's ass. It tasted better, it didn't have that sticky feeling of "normal" Coke and fewer calories because of the blend.
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