You’re at the supermarket. You grab your usual six-pack of Coke. You get home and notice — wait, this is Zero Sugar.
That’s what’s happening to people since Coca-Cola rolled out its new visual identity last Monday. Classic and Zero Sugar are hard to tell apart on shelf now. That’s not an accident. That’s the entire point.
Some pundits believe Coke wants Zero Sugar to become the flagship, so it’s starting to look like one. Others think it’s about pouring more Coca-Cola equity into the Zero Sugar can, borrowing the original’s trust to speed up adoption.
I disagree with both. I think it’s a mistake.
Remember what happened the last time Coke tried to make a different version the flagship. This isn’t exactly New Coke — nobody’s changing the formula — but it undermines the original Classic Coke, and that one is too beloved to mess with.
