New Coke resurrected by Stranger Things 3!
For years now I’ve been told by my Dad of the widespread panic that New Coke caused for him & his friends. He’s been a lifetime Coca-Cola devotee - he doesn’t drink it for every meal, but you can rest assured that if he’s grabbing a soda, it’s going to be a Coke. I remember him telling me about the day that his local McDonald’s got their first shipment of New Coke way back in 1985. He told me about how he was working a night shift and that all of the guys he was working with would head down to Mickey D’s to grab a New Coke to try. One by one, all of them would come back OUTRAGED that this was going to be Coke’s new formula. Well, he had the very same reaction, and decided to head out to the local grocery store to buy up all the original formula Coca-Cola he could get his hands on. He stored all of these cases of Coke down in his basement for safekeeping.
Can you imagine a change so horrible that it would cause someone to keep soda rations in their basement? how apocalyptic.
Of course I want to try it, but even if I get my hands on 30+ year old soda, there’s no way I’m putting it in my body. I mean, I’m no LA Beast…
Enter: Stranger Things 3.
Listen, if any one thing has the power to transport us back to the magical year of 1985 and revive long dead products, it’s the juggernaut that is Stranger Things. Well, good ‘ol Netflix and Coca-Cola teamed up to make this boy’s dream come true! Before we talk about the actual soda though, can we discuss the commercial for it? This is the single coolest advertisement I’ve seen, and yes, I am including those badass Child’s Play/Toy Story posters. Just listen to the music! They hit the nail on the head, from the cheesy plot line, right down to the VHS tracking lines at the top and bottom of the screen. Not to mention, we get more of the Steve & Dustin dream team and that alone is enough to coerce me into buying $300 of soda I don’t need.
Here it is! Can you believe that it’s 2019 and I’m holding an honest to goodness can of New Coke? What a world we live in. I love how this can looks - elegantly retro, a design that somehow still holds up in this era of over simplified graphic design. The only thing that blow’s this can’s cover is that subtle Stranger Things logo on the back side of the can, which if I’m being honest, I totally love. That nod to the series is what’s putting this one notch past product tie-in, and into full blown memorabilia territory. Rest assured that this can will be resting comfortably on the shelves in my office for many years to come.
But how does it taste?
Oh, right. I guess you all came here to find out how this new formula actually tastes, huh? Well, in a nutshell…disappointing. But not the same disappointing that everyone in 1985 was collectively experiencing. You see, if you’ve had an RC Cola, or really any off brand Cola, you’ve already had New Coke. I was disappointed that it wasn’t this legendary, disgusting drink that I had been promised for years and years. If I’m being completely honest, I actually kinda even liked it. I say this of course, fully aware that I still had access to original recipe Coca-Cola, and I feel that maybe was why I wasn’t so repulsed by this soda. I can understand that back in the day, not knowing if or when you’d ever get to drink regular Coke again was probably a scary thought. This is also probably why there was such a backlash, because while I think New Coke is actually pretty good…it’s still not Coke as we know it.
In conclusion, it’s fun that we got New Coke back if only for a minute, but if you chose not to spend $19.85 on two cans of the stuff (yes, really) you can always head down to your local grocery store, pick up an off brand cola, and have the same experience.
