Coke to drop ‘Classic’ from label

Coca-Cola Co. said Friday it plans to drop the “Classic” tag from its top-selling soda — providing a final chapter to the New Coke debacle.

Confirming a report in today’s issue of Beverage Digest, the company said “Classic” would be dropped in the first half of the year.

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The original ‘New Coke’ label in 1985. The product was quietly discontinued in 1992.

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Coke added Classic to the label in 1985 in the United States as it brought back the original formula. The return to the original formula was triggered by consumer backlash over the introduction of New Coke.

For several years, Coca-Cola offered both Coke Classic and New Coke. Coca-Cola executives have debated for some time whether to remove the Classic tag, Beverage Digest said in its article.

“It is a relic of the past and doesn’t sound very modern,” according to an unnamed source in the story. “How many people are going around saying, ‘May I please have a Coke Classic?’”

The change coincides with a global campaign launched earlier this month called “Open Happiness.” Classic was only used in the United States.

The timing was right to create a consistency around the globe, said Coke spokesman Scott Williamson. He was quick to point out that the flavor will not change. The lettering on the bottle will have the phrase “Coke Classic original formula” to remind people that it’s the same flavor, Williamson said.

“We’ve taken very deliberate steps to ensure that people know the Coke Classic they know and love remains the same,” he said.

Last year in an interview with the Journal-Constitution, Don Keough, president of Coca-Cola during the introduction of New Coke, talked about the decision to replace and then bring back the original Coke. Some outsiders called it a terrible mistake. Others suggested it was a brilliant marketing move designed to stir interest in Coke again.

Keough said Coke realized it made a mistake and recognized that the consumers owned the Coke brand. He jokingly said his tombstone might be etched with the phrase “he’s not that dumb, and he’s not that smart,” a reference to a similar line he ad-libbed in announcing the return of the original formula.