In 1985, the world suffered through what I call "The Great Coke Pandemic."
It wasn't a virus. It was just Coca-Cola trying to fix a recipe that was already making money.
The company's executives were basically going through a mid-life crisis. They got insecure because Pepsi was winning blind taste tests all over the place, so they scrapped their 100-year-old original formula for a new, "improved" version called New Coke.
"What they didn't understand at the time was that a brand isn't just liquid in a bottle. It's a piece of people's identity."
It was a total disaster. People started hoarding old cans like survival kits and protesting in the streets over a soft drink. This is the ultimate lesson in brand loyalty.
The backlash got so intense the company had to bring back the original formula, rebranded as Coke Classic, just to stop the outrage. Ironically, once it returned, sales skyrocketed to levels they never would've hit if they hadn't messed up in the first place.
The lesson here: stop trying to innovate your way out of a brand that already works. Build something deep enough that your audience will fight for you, even when you mess up.
Did this article make you irrationally angry? Perfect.
Channel that rage into a lengthy YouTube comment — @kirkpadmore. It really helps my metrics. Same handle on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Channel Your Rage on YouTube