25 years since Coca-Cola's big blunder

Twenty-five years ago Friday, Coca-Cola executives stepped up to a podium at the company's headquarters and told the world that the old Coke formula was being shelved in favor of something called "New Coke." As the ads said, you were gonna love it.

The story of New Coke is still taught in business schools, and not in a good way. Coca-Cola, anxious to fight off a challenge from Pepsi, had forgotten its fans' deep psychological connection with the brand. It hadn't asked them if they would mind if the 99-year-old Coke formula disappeared. The result was perhaps the biggest marketing blunder of the century. (read more at ajc.com)