by Ron James

Created on: April 29, 2009

Leaving details such as who has the greater market share and whose is the most recognized brand aside, let me take a shot at interpreting the actual question. I believe the intent of the query to be which product tastes better, and to that my answer is Pepsi.

I grew up as a part of "The Pepsi Generation," and, although the ad people told us, "Things Go Better With Coke," I could never figure out what things they were talking about. In the 1950s and 60s, Pepsi seemed sweeter and lighter to my immature taste buds, while Coke had a stronger, almost medicinal flavor. Royal Crown Cola, or "RC," was somewhere in the middle and made an acceptable substitute. But I wasn't a diehard. When we went to the store, we bought Pepsi unless Coke was on sale and when I dropped my dime in the vending machine slot, it didn't really matter as long as it was cola. Fast forward to adulthood.

Have you ever noticed that nothing tastes the same as it did when you were a kid? Think about it. How many times have you taken a bite or a sip of something you've always enjoyed before only to come away with the vague feeling that it was somehow different than it used to be? This is especially true, it seems, if you are a member of the "over forty" set. Maybe even "over thirty," I don't know.

In the case of Coke vs. Pepsi, it really is true: Coke doesn't taste the same as it did when I was a kid and you can thank "New Coke" for that.

Despite years of billing itself as "The Real Thing," the Coca Cola Company took a weird left turn in 1985 and came up with a new and supposedly sweeter formula for its flagship product. "New Coke," as it came to be called, was such an unmitigated disaster that nearly a quarter-century later it still tops most lists of marketing fiascos. "New Coke" only lasted a miserable couple of months before "The Powers That Be" in Atlanta took the heads that their customers had handed them and put them back on their shoulders rather than where many thought they had been when the decision was made to so radically alter an American icon.

Enter "Coke Classic," or "Classic Coke," the chastised soft-drink giant's apology and mea culpa for its egregious error. But was this new "classic" really the same as the old "classic?" Not so much. Because now the new "old Coke" was flavored with high-fructose corn syrup rather than the pure cane sugar that powered the old "old Coke." And, "classic" or not, anybody with taste buds could tell the difference. The product developers and marketing wizards

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