History of Coca‑Cola

History of Coca‑Cola: 1982-1989
Diet Coke and new Coke

The 1980s - the era of legwarmers, headbands and the fitness craze, and a time of much change and innovation at The Coca‑Cola Company. In 1981, Roberto C Goizueta became chairman of the board of directors and CEO of The Coca‑Cola Company. Goizueta completely overhauled the company with a strategy he called 'intelligent risk taking'.

Among his bold moves was organising the numerous US bottling operations into a new public company, Coca‑Cola Enterprises Inc. He also led the introduction of Diet Coke, the very first extension of the Coca‑Cola trademark. Within two years, it had become the top low calorie drink in the world, second in success only to Coca‑Cola.

One of Goizueta's other initiatives, in 1985, was the release of a new taste for Coca‑Cola, the first change in formulation in 99 years. In taste tests, people loved the new formula, commonly called New Coke. In the real world, they had a deep emotional attachment to the original, and they begged and pleaded to get it back. Critics called it the biggest marketing blunder ever. Coca‑Cola listened, and the original formula was returned to the market as Coca‑Cola Classic, and the product began to increase its lead over the competition - a lead that continues to this day.

History of Coca‑Cola: 1882-1892
History of Coca‑Cola: 1893-1904
History of Coca‑Cola: 1905-1918
History of Coca‑Cola: 1919-1940
History of Coca‑Cola: 1941-1959
History of Coca‑Cola: 1960-1981
History of Coca‑Cola: 1982-1989
History of Coca‑Cola: 1990-1999
History of Coca‑Cola: 2000-Now