Coke Classic: The Story of How America Saved Its Favorite Drink

The year was 1985. The song “We Are the World” by USA for Africa was hitting radio stations across America, Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power in the Soviet Union, and Dan Lauck was purchasing 110 cases of the original formula Coca-Cola. The San Antonio TV reporter feared the soda he drank up to 10 times a day might vanish for good—and he wasn’t alone.

It was the year Coke did the unthinkable—messed with its century-old recipe—and Dan Lauck’s cart full of 110 cases was just the first hint of the grassroots rebellion to come. Fans rallied, took action, and reminded every brand out there to think twice before tweaking a favorite.

How a Taste Test Shook Fans’ Faith in Coca-Cola

For decades, Coca-Cola had ruled the fountain counters and supermarket shelves as America’s favorite soda pop. But the crown was slipping: By the 1970s, longtime rival Pepsi-Cola’s campaign to chip away at Coca-Cola’s sales using clever marketing and bold campaigns was finally paying off.

Chief among those campaigns was the Pepsi Challenge. Launched in 1975, the masked taste test that Pepsi marketers set up at malls, shopping centers, and even universities across the country offered Coke and Pepsi in unmarked cups. Participants picked their favorites, and cameras rolled to capture the moments. It was TV gold, and Pepsi turned the best reactions into a series of wildly popular commercials.

Whether Pepsi actually tasted better or those memorable TV commercials convinced more Americans to switch colas, the “Pepsi Generation” was growing. For the first time, the challenger was edging out Coke in supermarket sales (then nearly a third of the business). In 1983, Pepsi stole Burger King’s fountain business away from Coca-Cola, marking a significant blow to Coke’s dominance in the restaurant and fast-food sector.

The Pepsi Challenge struck Coke where it hurt most—its all-American image. For decades, the brand had been synonymous with U.S. culture itself, and suddenly fans were questioning their loyalty. No wonder executives panicked; they needed to hit back, and fast.

Coca-Cola Changed Its Recipe—and Fans Were Outraged

In 1981, Coca-Cola launched a secret project: to update the formula of its flagship flavor for the first time in nearly a century. The brand spent $4 million and secretly tested a sweeter version of the drink on more than 200,000 consumers. In these tests, the newly formulated Coke not only outperformed its predecessor but beat Pepsi-Cola—a result Coke executives saw as a major win.

That success would be fleeting. On April 23, 1985, then-Coca-Cola CEO Roberto Goizueta stunned the public by unveiling New Coke. Describing it as “smoother, rounder, yet bolder ... a more harmonious flavor,” New Coke was positioned as the true choice of a new generation. Fans’ outrage was instantaneous and magnificent—a viral backlash decades before the internet gave consumers a louder megaphone. Before the announcement, the company received about 400 calls per day. Afterwards, fans flooded the hotline with over a thousand, according to The Real Coke, The Real Story by Thomas Oliver.

Meet the Coke Fans Who Fought Back

Things escalated when Gay Mullins, a retiree from Seattle, Washington, and an avid Coke drinker, entered the picture. Mullins wasn’t just disappointed—he was furious that a billion-dollar brand could so casually erase a flavor tied to decades of memories. Stepping into action, Mullins used his retirement fund to form the group, the Old Cola Drinkers of America. His master plan included setting up a 1-900 number, complete with a bank of phones, to field calls from everyday fans who felt betrayed, ignored, or just heartbroken.

After months of rallying and drawing media attention, Mullins played his trump card. In June 1985, he filed a class action lawsuit against the beverage maker in U.S. District Court. Mullins petitioned the court to stop Coca-Cola from distributing New Coke in the classic Coke cans, calling it deceptive advertising. Even though the court dismissed the case a week later, the backlash was only building.

Mullins was not the only one leading the charge against Coke. The Society for the Preservation of the Real Thing, also made up of Coke enthusiasts, fought alongside Mullins. Writer Robert Hester from Jacksonville, Florida, said of the new beverage, "It's a taste tragedy." Another echoed, “I was in high school working at McDonald's, and boy, did I hear about it from customers. I didn't care for it myself.”

Coke Classic Wasn’t a Marketing Move—It Was a Fan Victory

Fans quickly turned New Coke into a marketing disaster for Coca-Cola. A mere 79 days after its announcement, Coca-Cola unceremoniously returned its flagship beverage to its original formula on July 15, 1985. While the company didn’t fully abandon New Coke, it rebranded the original formula as Coca-Cola Classic.

Decades after the New Coke fiasco, brands continue to learn the same lesson: ignore loyal fans at your own risk. In 2012, Hostess announced it was discontinuing Twinkies, sparking panic and consumer hoarding. Eight months later, new owners put Twinkies back on shelves. Oreo revived its “Dunk Challenge” cookies in 2015 when fans flooded social media with pleas to bring them back. Similarly, McDonald’s and other fast-food restaurants regularly discontinue menu items, such as the McRib, only to bring them back whenever fan demand peaks.

The New Coke experiment still stands as a masterclass in how fiercely loyal fans can shape a brand’s fate. As Coca-Cola president Donald Keough itted in 1985, “The simple fact is that all the time and money and skill poured into consumer research on the new Coca-Cola could not measure or reveal the deep and abiding emotional attachment to original Coca-Cola felt by so many people.” That attachment turned a bold market-adaptation gamble into a viral rebellion the company couldn’t ignore.

By rushing the original formula back as Coca-Cola Classic, the company bowed to the pressure fans had made impossible to ignore: Consumers, not executives, decide which flavors feel like home. In today’s marketplace, spreadsheets alone can’t measure that devotion. The smartest brands don’t lead—they listen. And when fans speak up loud enough, they don’t just shape the story—they rewrite it.