Diet! Coke! Madness!
I went to the grocery store this weekend and saw something called Diet Coke Zero. I have now learned the maximum number of varieties of Diet Coke that I am mentally prepared to deal with, and it is seven: original Diet Coke, Diet Coke with Lime, Diet Coke with Lemon, Diet Cherry Coke, Diet Vanilla Coke, Coca-Cola 2, and Diet Coke with Splenda. I am not prepared to add Diet Coke Zero to this list. I have no idea how it could possibly be different from any of the seven types of Diet Coke that already exist, and it is confusing, and I prefer not to think about it too much. If anyone knows, feel free to enlighten us all in the comments.
posted by mo pie at 9:53 AM
16 Comments:
I just blogged this today too! I think it's just a marketing thing personally. At my count I get 14 different formulations of coke.
I'm sure we don't have that many varieties of Coke available in Britain. Lime, Lemon and Vanilla, and the normal one, yes, although Vanilla is quite hard to find.
Diet Vanilla Coke is my guilty pleasure. I know it's all rubbish and chemicals, but it tastes like an ice cream float without the mess and without the caloric overload... (I do have the sweetest of sweet teeth, I'll admit).
Isn't Splenda sort of reduced-calorie sugar? So is New Diet Coke higher in calories than Old Diet Coke?
I tried a Coke Zero, and though it may have been because it was warm, I found it quite yucky. It tasted kinda like Diet Coke with Splenda (which I find passable), but with that aspertame kick that I hate.
K, Splenda is zero-calorie. Diet Coke with Splenda is still zero calorie.
ajc.com had a write up about it over the weekend. they are going after men w/this one.
Coca-Cola's next big product — Coke Zero, a no-calorie drink that is rolling out now — should win enough buyers to secure a slice of the U.S. market.
But even a successful launch is unlikely to help reverse a slump in the overall soft drink business, according to a new study released Friday by investment firm Morgan Stanley.
Coca-Cola will blast Zero into the market by doling out 20 million free samples and by launching a splashy ad campaign, including a TV spot that is a remake of sorts of a famous 1971 commercial that featured the song "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke."
Morgan Stanley's report shows Zero is a promising product that faces a tough environment.
Sales of diet soft drinks have dropped off from a once-torrid pace. Current trend lines also indicate 2005 could be the first time in the modern era that U.S. sales volume of carbonated soft drinks falls, regardless of any boost provided by new products like Zero.
That's partly because so many people are switching to water.
"Consumers are becoming ever more health-conscious, and the image of regular carbonated soft drinks is deteriorating rapidly," Morgan Stanley analyst Bill Pecoriello says in a report. Diets are faring better but still evoke negative perceptions in many consumers.
Coke, nonetheless, is bullish about Zero, which is already being sold in some U.S. stores and will appear throughout the country starting next week.
Katie Bayne, senior vice president of Coca-Cola brands for Coke North America, said Zero was aimed at 18- to 34-year olds, especially males who have shied away from traditional diet drinks such as Diet Coke.
Retooling old 'hilltop' commercial'
Coke will tout Zero with the theme "Everybody Chill." The remake of the well-known ad — as first reported by Beverage Digest — is just one part of the marketing effort, but the spot is likely to get much attention, thanks to the fame of the old commercial.
Bayne said bringing back the notions associated with the feel-good 1971 ad, which was shot on a hilltop in Italy, seemed appropriate for the times. The new spot, created by agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky of Miami, was shot Tuesday and Wednesday in Philadelphia. It will debut the week of June 27.
Whether the ad is good or bad, Coke might find a receptive audience for Zero. Morgan Stanley's research showed that 60 percent of consumers are at least somewhat interested in sampling Coke Zero, far more than Diet Coke with Splenda or another diet competitor, the recently reformulated Pepsi One. Pecoriello forecasts Zero will generate enough sales to hold about 1.5 percent of the U.S. soft drink market.
Success, however, is far from certain. Coke put much effort into last year's launch of Coca-Cola C2, a reduced-calorie cola that flopped.
Though Coke Zero appears to have good prospects, sales of diet soft drinks have started to soften.
This year, through the third week of May, diet drink sales volume was flat, as measured in supermarkets. In comparison, diet sales jumped by 7.5 percent in 2004, according to Beverage Digest.
To succeed, Coke Zero will need to appeal to a wide range of buyers. Morgan Stanley's survey indicated that bottled water has been a big factor in the softening interest in diet soft drinks.
Even if Zero proves attractive to some of those consumers, the brand might steal buyers from other Coke soft drinks, notably Coke Classic.
"Coke Zero will attract attention and generate a good deal of volume, but how much will be new business for Coke and how much will be drawn from their other brands is a key issue and hard to predict at this point," said John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest.
Thank you Jaime.
All this talk of old ads is making me nostalgic. I live in one of the few Western countries where Coke is not the top-selling soft drink of all time - it's challenged by Barr's Irn Bru:
www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A219863
which is a truly hideous artificial orange colour and probably should come with a health warning. I can't drink it because I'm allergic to the colourings, which is probably just as well. I don't think it has 14 different formulations, though there is a diet version.
When I was a kid it was advertised as "Made in Scotland from Girders" (pron. gurr-durrs) and had the coolest adverts on TV. The pitch was that it made you super-strong. The one I remember best had a kid thumping a stuck vending machine, thereby bouncing it off the wall and knocking himself out...
The current adverts say it's "Phenomenal" and show people doing reckless things. Maybe the sugar and e-numbers set off their ADHD?
From what i've heard Zero is supposed to start off with a formula closer to coca cola classic. Diet Coke starts with a formula closer to New Coke. i haven't tried it yet....more of a pepsi fan honestly.
I have tried every Coca Cola flavor there is on the market including the new Zero, and out of all of them... I like Pepsi the best. Although I still will drink Coca Cola, all of the diet versions just don't seem to match up to the original! And I would like to add, just becuse you don't drink the diet kind, you will not get fat off the product. I never eat nor drink any diet foods because I merely don't like the taste of it. And guess what... I'm not fat! I'm fine in weight and feel sorry for the people who deprive themselves of proper food just to get the figure I have obtained by exersizing and eating right.
I was really not impressed with Coke Zero. I prefer the old Diet coke. It did come in handy as entertainment. My can fizzed over after having been opened a few moments. The kids had the same experience with the rest of the 12 pack. Cheaper than the movies....
I am just glad that the soda makers are trying to please the diet soda drinkers. At least at the grocery stores.
When I drank "regular" soda there were some many choices you weren't limited to just a few.
When I became a "diet" soda drinker, it too soon became boring drinking the same old diet soda.
While it is sometimes overwhelming the choices, I think it may be that we have gotten used to not having many choices.
Currently my fav diet sodas are,
Diet Coke (plain old normal diet coke), Diet Mt. Dew, Diet Sunkist, Diet A&W Rootbeer, and Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper (and I always disliked Dr. Pepper.)
I say that choice is good! Soda makers are listening to the diet crowd. Now we need more diet choices at restaurants...
I'm so surprised by people's reaction to Coke Zero!! I have been, and will continue to refer to Zero as a COCA-COLA MIRACLE!!! I was fine wih regular Diet Coke. The new version with Splenda is horrific - tastes like Tab. Is this the 70's all over again? But Coke Zero is the closest they've gotten to real Coke. I love it - its actually helped me give up sugar over the past few months. I have had the real Coke monkey on my back for a LONG time and Zero is a great gateway drink back down to teh world of the sugar-free. Long live COKE ZERO!
Ladyjay... you should try diet IBC root beer... best root beer I've had.
Personaly I love coca cola zero. For years I would only drink regular coke, as i disliked the taste of diet coke. To me diet coke tastes like a watered down version of the original. Zero is different though, not only is it calorie free, but it has some of the taste of the original, something i thought was impossible to do with diet soda. No diet soda has tasted as real as the original to me, but zero comes close to it. I would like to thank coke for coming out with this product, even if it does cluster up the aisle a little more.
Coca Cola Zero is the closest thing
to Coca Cola Classic which always
left the aftertaste of guilt--
so I'm hooked and unless my tastebuds are totally off, I think
any negativism is just a bad rap--
bravo Coca Cola Zero
Coca Cola Zero is the closest thing
to Coca Cola Classic which always
left the aftertaste of guilt--
so I'm hooked and unless my tastebuds are totally off, I think
any negativism is just a bad rap--
bravo Coca Cola Zero
Coca Cola Zero is best thing
since Coca Cola Classic which
always left a guilty aftertaste--
I'm hooked-any negativism is just
a bad rap--
BRAVO COKE ZERO
I love coke zero, I am a die hard real coke fan and coke zero taste simliar to that. Although since I have been drinking it for the past couple of days I have broken out with rash and horrible itching on my hands and legs. I think there is a hidden ingredient in it to get it to taste like regular coke that I am having a reaction to.
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