Why change looked defensible
Coca-Cola’s own history says its flagship had been losing share and that extensive taste testing favored the reformulated drink. The company therefore had evidence for changing the liquid, but the tests were less equipped to measure what replacing a familiar product would mean to customers.
A fast reversal
Consumer protest followed the April launch, and Coca-Cola announced the original formula’s return as Coca-Cola classic 79 days later. The company archive presents the episode as a lesson in emotional attachment; it does not establish a secret plan or a clean dollar amount that the decision supposedly destroyed.