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It’s been 40 years since debut of ‘New Coke,’ Coca-Cola’s biggest failure

FILE - In this July 11, 1985 file photo, cans of New Coke and Coca-Cola Classic are on display during a news conference in Atlanta. New Coke's sweeter formula was a marketed as an improved replacement for the flagship soda, but the outcry was immediate and sustained. Coke tried to sell both versions for awhile, but eventually reverted to “Coca-Cola Classic.” (AP Photo/Charles Kelly, file)
FILE - In this July 11, 1985 file photo, cans of New Coke and Coca-Cola Classic are on display during a news conference in Atlanta. New Coke's sweeter formula was a marketed as an improved replacement for the flagship soda, but the outcry was immediate and sustained. Coke tried to sell both versions for awhile, but eventually reverted to “Coca-Cola Classic.” (AP Photo/Charles Kelly, file) FILE - In this July 11, 1985 file photo, cans of New Coke and Coca-Cola Classic are on display during a news conference in Atlanta. New Coke's sweeter formula was a marketed as an improved replacement for the flagship soda, but the outcry was immediate and sustained. Coke tried to sell both versions for awhile, but eventually reverted to “Coca-Cola Classic.” (AP Photo/Charles Kelly, file)

By Kelly Yamanouchi / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS) 6 min read

It’s been 40 years since Atlanta-based Coca-Cola launched a new formula for its famed namesake cola, called it New Coke and prompted a national outcry — forcing the company to walk back the decision on its biggest blunder ever.

The company has never been able to live it down, and the flub became a case study in what not to do in business.

How could the talented marketing minds in the downtown Atlanta tower have made such a massive mistake?

The decision came in the fog of war — the cola wars, that is.

Back in the mid-1980s, Pepsi was deep in a battle to try to take down Coca-Cola, with advertisements like the “Pepsi Challenge” that showed blind taste tests with people choosing the taste of Pepsi over Coke. A film by Sony on the cola wars involving Judd Apatow and Steven Spielberg is in the works, according to Deadline.com.