New Coke was the unofficial name of the sweeter formulation introduced in 1985 by The Coca-Cola Company to replace its flagship soft drink, Coca-Cola or Coke. Properly speaking, it had no separate name of its own, but was simply the new version of Coke, until 1992 when it was renamed Coca-Cola II.Public reaction to the change was devastating, and the new cola quickly entered the pantheon of major marketing flops. The subsequent reintroduction of Coke's original formula led to a significant gain in sales. Although the company insisted it was an unplanned reaction to the perceived rejection of New Coke, many rumors and conspiracy theories continue to circulate the claim that this reversal was a plan engineered before the production of New Coke began, perhaps to mask changes made to the "Original Formula."
