She lived to be 91 and every day of her life she had to have her Coke. In Georgia, during her lifetime,it was known as "Co-cola"..and it came in those old fashioned, green glass bottles that kept it so cold and frosty. Not like the cans of today.
After she entered the nursing home, when I would go visit her and take her a new sweater or new nightgowns, I always stopped by the cafeteria and dropped in my quarters in the vending machine and bought her a "Co-Cola". She was always so grateful and she enjoyed the refreshing taste. I suppose "Coke" itself at that time was as old as Mama. She was born in Hall County Georgia,in 1893, and Coca-Cola was sold in bottles for the first time on March 12, 1894. It was sold at a few soda fountains prior to that.
In 1985. The Coca-Cola Company came out with "New Coke"
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"In 1985, Coca-Cola, amid much publicity, attempted to change the formula of the drink. Some authorities believe that New Coke, as the reformulated drink was called, was invented specifically to respond to its commercial competitor, Pepsi. Double-blind taste tests indicated that most consumers preferred the taste of Pepsi (which has more lemon oil, less orange oil, and uses vanillin rather than vanilla) to Coke. New Coke was reformulated in a way that emulated Pepsi. Follow-up taste tests revealed that most consumers preferred the taste of New Coke to both Coke and Pepsi. The reformulation was led by the then-CEO of the company, Roberto Goizueta, and the President Don Keough.
It is unclear what part long-time company president Robert W. Woodruff played in the reformulation. Goizueta claims that Woodruff endorsed it a few months before his death in 1985; others have pointed out that, as the two men were alone when the matter was discussed, Goizueta might have misinterpreted the wishes of the dying Woodruff, who could speak only in monosyllables. It has also been alleged that Woodruff might not have been able to understand what Goizueta was telling him.
The commercial failure of New Coke therefore came as a grievous blow to the management of the Coca-Cola Corporation. It is possible that customers would not have noticed the change if it had been made secretly or gradually, and thus brand loyalty could have been maintained. Coca-Cola management was unprepared, however, for the nostalgic sentiments the drink aroused in the American public; some compared changing the Coke formula to rewriting the American Constitution."
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As soon as New Coke came out I took one out to the nursing home for Mama to try. I did not tell her that "Co-Cola" had been reformulated and just asked her "How is your Co-Cola, Mama?
She sounded disappointed when she replied "It's all right" Then I told her about the new version of Coke. She wanted to stick with the old standby that had served her well for almost 90 years.
COKE
COKE
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