Coke has debuted and canceled dozens of sodas over the years. Everything from coffee-infused
drinks to Diet Coke with a twist of lime has seen time on store shelves. Some of those
flavors are dearly missed. These are the Coke drinks that are due for a comeback.
When you think of the words "Coca-Cola" and "failure" together, chances are that New Coke
is the first thing that springs to mind. An ill-fated 1985 attempt to swap the classic
soft drink's recipe and rebrand it as New Coke led to national outrage. And at one point,
furious cola consumers bombarded the soda company with 8,000 phone calls a day to complain.
Coca-Cola was ultimately forced to bring back the original recipe after just three months.
New Coke became one of the most infamous marketing flops around, and if you've tasted it at all,
it was probably because of the drink's short-lived comeback as a Stranger Things-inspired promotion
in 2019. "How do you even drink that?"
"Because it's delicious." "What?!"
However, the company didn't just randomly roll out the New Coke formula. They studied
and tweaked it for years, and it tasted rather delicious and was close enough to the original
that some of its louder opponents reportedly couldn't taste the difference when they actually
tried it. New Coke's bad rap and subsequent cancellation largely happened because of an
extremely loud, complaining minority that opposed the very idea of a familiar thing
changing in any way. And the media attention they received eventually snowballed into a
national outrage. In other words, there's a perfectly delicious
Coca-Cola out there that you've never tasted, unless you splurged on the limited-edition
cans in 2019, because some consumers thought change was bad.
Coke II was, of course, just New Coke, only without all the marketing frenzy and hopefully
the negative connotations. They test-marketed the drink on the relative down low, and in
1992, Coke II joined the official Coca-Cola roster. The rebrand didn’t attract hundreds
of thousands of complaints like its first rollout, but the public still had no interest
in any new versions of their favorite soda. As such, the sales of Coke II slowly whittled
down, and the drink was finally discontinued in 2002.
Coca-Cola has never really admitted why they loved this particular recipe so much that
they were willing to bet on a losing horse twice. However, their competitors at Pepsi
reportedly analyzed the formula. They figured out that the new version of Coke was cheaper
to make, and would have saved the Coca-Cola Company an estimated $50 million a year in
ingredients.
Coca-Cola Black Cherry Vanilla seems like a perfect storm of dessert flavors, to the
point that it's pretty surprising the flavor isn't available anymore. As an even bigger
surprise, the drink only lasted a year before disappearing from the market.
Black Cherry Vanilla Coke debuted in January 2006 as both regular and Diet version, while
Coca-Cola Vanilla and Diet Coke Vanilla went on hiatus. Unfortunately, the new flavor didn't
last, and Black Cherry Vanilla disappeared from the market in 2007. Since Coca-Cola brought
the regular Vanilla Coke back in the same year, along with the new Vanilla Coke Zero,
it may be that the company wanted to simply stack their chips on one vanilla-themed soda
treat. While it's hard to blame the company for focusing
on the admittedly delicious Vanilla Coke, one can't help but feel that the extra kick
of black cherry flavor would elevate the drink to a completely different level. Fortunately,
Coke seems to be slowly reaching the same conclusion, too. After all, they now have
an almost-but-not-quite version of the flavor combination available: The new Cherry Vanilla
Coke.
Back in the ancient days of 2006, Coke introduced Coca-Cola Blāk to cater to the coffee-hungry
crowd with a sweet tooth and an affinity for low-temperature drinks. The experiment lasted
17 months. Coca-Cola doesn't consider Blāk an utter
failure, but simply an unfortunate victim of bad timing. Nancy Quan, Coca-Cola’s chief
technical officer has said: "That was a trend before its time. I don't
think people were ready to have a coffee portfolio within the Coca-Cola brand."
Product identity issues may have doomed the Coke-coffee mashup the first time around,
but there's a chance that you'll see some variation of Blāk on the shelves one day.
Coke has recognized the public's evolving, coffee-hungry palates, and has been slowly,
steadily experimenting with similar products, such as Coca-Cola Plus Coffee.
Coca-Cola C2 was definitely among the Coke products that were massive fails. C2 was supposed
to be the company's next big thing after Diet Coke. Unfortunately, its grand selling point
was to offer half the carbs and calories of Coke. The goal was to reach the lucrative
audience of men aged 20-40 who rejected Diet Coke's "feminine" image.
When you look beyond the misguided basis of that elevator pitch, as well as the fact that
the company blew $50 million to launch C2 in 2004, there were a few problems with the
product. As a hybrid drink, C2 wasn't quite here nor there. Its sales mostly cut into
those of Coke and Diet Coke. As a result, C2 eventually skulked away, and the considerably
more successful Coke Zero took the spotlight. So, why bring C2 back at all? Many people
could do with eating a little bit healthier these days, but people being people, it's
always great if the healthier thing can still be a burger, maybe a Beyond Burger. For people
who are interested in cutting back their drink calorie intake, but not interested enough
to switch to water, or, for that matter, Coke Zero, C2 might act as a comfortable middle
ground. Kind of a soda half-and-half.
The marketing concept behind Diet Coke Plus was an interesting one. Coca-Cola introduced
the drink in 2007, and it was advertised as "a good source of vitamins B3, B6, and B12,
and the minerals zinc and magnesium." The imagery about added minerals and vitamins
was pretty neat. After all, Coke is hardly the healthiest option in any given scenario,
but that way, you at least get some good out of that sugar rush.
Unfortunately, that reality wasn't quite as sunny as the concept. By 2008, Coke found
itself at odds with the FDA. The agency felt that it wasn't appropriate to fortify snack
foods such as carbonated beverages, and stated that Diet Coke Plus didn't include enough
extra nutrients to warrant the whole "Plus" moniker. Coca-Cola tried to defend the product,
but poor sales eventually drove the product's existence from store shelves.
While Diet Coke Plus is a non-entity today, imagine the drink making a triumphant return
in these health-conscious times, only this time with enough beneficial vitamins and minerals
to satisfy the FDA when they inevitably come calling. Sure, it's a tall order, especially
since the FDA expressed its distaste about the whole concept. Still, if Coca-Cola one
day manages to clear that hurdle, Diet Coke Plus might turn out to be a winner.
Coca-Cola Raspberry seems to be a welcome presence whenever it appears, at least, if
you ask the good people of New Zealand. The raspberry-flavored cola drink debuted in 2006,
and after a temporary visit in the land of lost beverages, the company announced the
drink's return as a summer treat for the Kiwi country in 2017.
Coca-Cola chose the flavor after finding out to its mild surprise how much the locals loved
the drink. Karen Thompson, head of communications for Coca-Cola Oceania commented:
"When we launched Coca-Cola No Sugar a few months ago, when we were teasing the campaign
that we had a new product coming, a lot of the response was saying 'Oh are you launching
Coke Raspberry', so we realized it was something that Kiwis had an affinity with. We realized
that it was something iconic among New Zealanders so we said; 'Well, why don't we?'."
Fortunately, Coca-Cola has kept Coke Raspberry's nostalgia factor in mind and has been experimenting
with a slightly fancier, California Raspberry-flavored spin on the theme as part of their Local Flavors
product line since 2018. Since the berry remains such an active part of Coke's recipe game,
perhaps a refreshing can of that New Zealand-style Raspberry Coke isn't completely out of the
question somewhere down the line.
Tab Clear was a drink designed to fail, and to take a competitor down with it. In the
early 1990s, drink manufacturers were riding high on the strange trend of transparent cola
drinks, and Crystal Pepsi was sitting pretty on top of the pile. Coke needed to do something
to tear it down, but preferably in a way that wouldn't tarnish their own main product's
reputation. To achieve this, Coca-Cola turned to their
ailing, "calorie-conscious" diet drink brand Tab, and rolled the transparent Tab Clear
out as a response to Crystal Pepsi in 1993. As Pepsi spent big bucks in an effort to establish
their drink as a mainstream thing, Coke just happily gave the impression that Tab Clear
was a diet drink. Because it was an obvious competitor to Crystal Pepsi, the consumers
felt that had to be a vaguely medicinal drink. Just like that, Crystal Pepsi went from a
solid up-and-comer to a product with no clear identity. After that, neither it nor Tab Clear
lasted for long. Tab Clear might have been a failure by design,
but the drink itself is hardly at fault for Coca-Cola Company's strategic shenanigans.
Besides, Coke discontinued regular Tab toward the end of 2020. What better replacement is
there than its clear cousin that never got its rightful chance?
The story of OK Soda ranks among the stranger ones in the annals of soft drink history.
The citrus-tanged OK Soda got its start when Coca-Cola Chief of Marketing Sergio Zyman,
the guy behind the New Coke debacle, noticed that "Coca-Cola" was second only to "OK" on
the list of best-known words in the world. "And I'll get bored with you and feel trapped
because that's what happens with me." "Ok."
The drink was launched with a strange, highly subversive product design and an anti-marketing
campaign that refused to even tell what OK Soda tasted like, apart from the fact that
it was "a carbonated beverage." In the end, consumers weren't ready for a
refreshing drink that was basically sold as drinkable postmodernism. After a limited release,
the experiment that was OK Soda was discontinued in 1995. However, the product reportedly has
a bit of a cult following, so who knows? Maybe a second time around would be the charm for
this curiously disenfranchised drink.
If you feel uncertain why Coca-Cola should bring Diet Coke Lime back, just say the name
out loud. Diet Coke. Lime. Diet Coke is delicious on its own, and a slice of lime pairs nicely
in an ice-cold glass of it. How could that combination not work? Unfortunately, the market
can be cruel. Diet Coke Lime debuted in early 2018 as a limited-time flavor, but fell victim
to the diet soda sales rut a few short months later.
Tragic as this may be, there's no keeping an awesome taste combination down. Diet Coke
Lime may be a goner for now, but things might not be that way forever. In early 2020, Coca-Cola
started experimenting in the U.K. with a new Diet Coke flavor called "Sublime Lime." Customers
who have tried it have been as impressed as the people who discovered the original Diet
Coke Lime back in the day. Hopefully, this positive feedback means that the blessed union
of lime and Diet Coke will eventually grace Stateside grocery store shelves once more.
Sprite Remix was a delightfully fruity variant of Coca-Cola's famous lemon-and-lime soda.
The brand debuted in 2002 in the U.S. and Canada, but the trio of the tropical Remix
flavors: Tropical, Berryclear, and Aruba Jam, failed to capture the hearts of the public
during their lifespan. As a result, the line disappeared in 2005, because the sales simply
weren't good enough. Sprite Remix's lack of popularity was the
reason for its initial cancellation, so imagine everyone's surprise when Coke randomly decided
to unleash the Tropical variant in 2016. In a statement about the drink's resurrection,
Coke's Sparkling Brands vice president Kimberly Paige revealed that the flavor had been the
subject of active fan interest for quite some time. She said:
"Fans have thirsted for the return of this popular Sprite tropical flavor for years,
and it's great to finally bring it back to reward their enthusiasm."
That's all fine and well for fans of Sprite Remix Tropical, which is now sold as Sprite
Tropical Mix. But what about Aruba Jam and Berryclear? Surely, they deserve another run
as well. Check out one of our newest videos right here!
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