As the old adage goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it. If only executives at Coca-Cola had taken heed of the cliché they would have saved themselves the New Coke marketing disaster in 1985. Nervous at Pepsi's increasing market share, Coca-Cola thought they could hit back by creating a new formula, aided and abetted by market research. They did not stop to think that tinkering with what was quintessentially a symbol of Americana would provoke such a public uproar. To make matters worse, the market research techniques used to decide on the new flavour were flawed - many people simply hated the new flavour. Sales plummeted and Coca-Cola was forced to revert to the original formula after only three months.
