On 15/02/2011 6:28 PM, Doug Freyburger wrote:

>> The secret recipe of Coke has been hidden and locked down for 125 years.
>> But apparently, not anymore. This American Life says they've found the
>> ingredients that make up the delicious bubbly cola and have revealed it to
>> our delight.
>
> The recipe was published in a sort of biography of the Coca Cola
> company. I read the biography back about 1998. It's been out for a
> long time. In the book it's put simply - If you have a century and many
> billions of dollars of marketing you may well be able to build a well
> recognized brand using that recipe. After all, someone did exactly that
> once before. Anyone have a few billion to spare?

It doesn't really matter. It's popularity has a lot to do with it's
advertising. Just look at what happened to their attempt back in the 80s
to increase it's market share by introducing a new formula. The came up
with something that tasted more like Pepsi, it's big competitor. In
blind taste tests, people preferred it. Both Coke and Pepsi drinkers
liked it best.

When they rolled out New Coke, people rebelled and insisted that they
bring back their old Coke. While New Coke failed as a product, it
inadvertently turned out to be a marketing miracle for Coke. They
brought back their same old product, called it Coke Classic, and sales
increased dramatically.... even though blind tastes tastes showed that
people like the new Coke. go figger.