It’s a marketing campaign that has lived in infamy. Back in April 1985, Coca-Cola launched its first new recipe in 99 years to help put a modern spring back in the brand’s step . . . and it spectacularly backfired. The sugar water-loving public revolted, demanding the company reverse course. It took 79 days, but eventually the company reissued the original formula as Coca-Cola Classic, and soon the new formula disappeared forever.
“They wrote us into the third season in a fairly meaningful way, so they brought us the idea. And you can imagine that it wasn’t the idea that we were maybe expecting to hear,” says senior vice-president of strategic marketing Geoff Cottrill. “There was a moment, when anybody who’s been on this project sort of said, ‘Oh wow, are we . . . are we really gonna think about doing this?’ ”
Oh, and they did. Starting today (May 23) at 5 p.m. ET, Coca-Cola will release a limited number of 12-ounce cans of New Coke, with the original 1985 formula, as part of a bundle, through its site at cokestore.com/1985. Free cans of New Coke will also be available for a limited time via an Upside-Down-inspired vending machine in select cities, starting in New York and moving to other locations. The Duffer Brothers also directed a new Coke ad that will be playing in cinemas around the country.
“We had the conversation about recreating New Coke in the limited run, and I think every single person when they were brought the idea, kind of scratched their head,” says Cottrill, given the product’s frosty reception 34 years ago. “Netflix brought us a really big idea. And we looked at ourselves in the mirror and said, there’s no way we can say no. You got to do that. ”
It all took about 10 months to put together. Cottrill says the partnership is quid pro quo, not a paid integration into the show, just a natural extension of how the brand was being portrayed anyway. Coke gets to appear in a highly anticipated Netflix show, and Netflix gets its show on Coke packaging in grocery stores all over the country.
Ultimately, the concern over celebrating an infamous mistake was overpowered by the idea of embracing its place in culture. “We wanted to find the right way to be there and to do it in a fun way, not take ourselves too seriously and also not take our place in the world for granted,” says Cottrill. “We’ve got to continue to push ourselves to do new and different things. We can’t do the same marketing tactics over and over again forever. We’ve got to evolve. So this was one of those chances.”