It was a bit like putting a miniskirt on the refurbished Statue of Liberty. Or painting the White House red. Or scribbling graffiti on a Norman Rockwell. If there has been any unchanging reality in the America of the past century--or indeed in a good part of the known world--it has been the presence and the unique taste of Coca-Cola. But last week executives of the Atlanta-based company announced that, as they see it, change goes better with Coke. Starting in May, they will introduce a new, slightly sweeter and smoother Coke that will totally supplant the old Coke and enter the lists against archrival Pepsi-Cola in the raging battle for dominance of the $23 billion U.S. soft- drink market. Roberto Goizueta, 53, chairman of Coca-Cola (1984 sales: $7.4 billion), said that the old Coke formula, with its secret flavoring ingredient, called Merchandise 7X, will stay locked in a Trust Co. of Georgia bank vault in Atlanta, never to be used again. Next to it, though, will be the new formula, with a new supersecret ingredient, called Merchandise 7X-100. This is the first flavor change in 99 years for the world's biggest-selling soda, and Coke called it "the most significant soft-drink development in the company's history."
Thirsty Americans will get their first taste of the new Coke, packed in white- and-red cans bearing the word NEW on a silver strip, this month. Within five weeks the drink should be available almost everywhere in the U.S. and Canada. The debut will be accompanied by a huge advertising campaign reviving the I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke theme song that was wildly popular in the early 1970s. In one of the first commercials, Comedian Bill Cosby, dressed as an archaeologist and surrounded by relics, quips, "If you're a Pepsi drinker, well, maybe that'll be history too."
Already, though, some diehard Coke drinkers are fretful. "I wonder if they're not going to ruin a good thing," said Joan Kelly, 37, a real estate agent who keeps a regular supply of 24 cases of Coke stashed in the basement of her home in Oak Park, near Chicago. "I love Coke. We all do. My husband. My kids." Said Christine Dale, a student at the University of Chicago graduate school of business: "I think this is definitely a step in the wrong direction." But other early tasters liked the new Coke (see box). Said Emanuel Goldman, beverage analyst for San Francisco's Montgomery Securities: "It's more guzzleable. My guess is that Coke will end up selling more."
The taste change adds an entirely new dimension to Coke's 87-year-old cola war with Pepsi. Until now, the Coke-Pepsi battle has been one largely of words in some of Madison Avenue's best and most memorable advertising. Currently the tag line "Coke is It!" is arrayed against "Pepsi. Choice of a New Generation." About five years ago, when the price of cane sugar went up sharply, Coke began shifting its basic sweetening ingredient to high-fructose corn syrup. Pepsi switched completely to the corn syrup sweetener this year. But the parts of each drink's formula that give the colas their distinctive tastes have remained essentially unaltered.