Coca-Cola’s Greatest Mistake | Who Killed New Coke? | 5

Business Movers

Wondery

History, Business, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2021

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Tim Murphy, a senior reporter at Mother Jones, normally writes about national politics, not soda. In this interview episode on Coca-Cola’s Greatest Mistake, Tim will explain how New Coke is a story about both. According to Tim, New Coke didn’t fail. It was murdered in a culture war that has many parallels to today.

To listen to Business Movers ad-free, join Wondery+ in the Wondery App. Click here to download the app: https://wondery.app.link/businessmovers.

Support us by supporting our sponsors!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It's April 23, 1985 in San Antonio, Texas. 35-year-old reporter Dan Locke strides through
0:22.2	the halls of KHLOTV on his way back from lunch. In his right hand, Dan clutches a small
0:27.7	cooler filled with his favorite beverage. Dan doesn't drink tea, he doesn't drink coffee, milk,
0:32.7	or beer. Dan drinks coke, sometimes as many as 12 bottles a day, so Dan carries his own personal
0:39.9	stash with him wherever he goes. As Dan closes his office door, a big smile washes over his face.
0:48.3	He sets the cooler on his desk, reaches inside, and pulls out an ice cold six and a half ounce bottle.
0:54.7	He pops the top and takes a big, refreshing sip. But Dan's managing editor interrupts the daily
1:02.8	ritual. So Dan, be honest, does it feel like your whole life just got flushed down the toilet?
1:08.3	She flashes Dan a devilish grin, but Dan doesn't get the joke. I'm sorry, what? What are you talking
1:13.2	about? I'm surprised to see you smiling. I thought after today's news, you'd be pretty upset.
1:17.8	News, what news? You didn't hear? Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola is getting rid of Coke and replacing it with a
1:24.3	new one. Yeah, that's, yeah, no, very funny. No, Dan, I'm not kidding. They had a press conference
1:31.2	this morning in New York. Coke is out. New Coke is in. Dan's smile disappears. When I heard the news,
1:37.2	you were the first person I thought of. Oh, I'm so sorry, Dan. Well, enjoy it while it lasts.
1:44.6	As his coworker walks away, Dan plops down in his desk chair, shocked. But soon his shock turns to
1:53.1	panic. Dan has just a few bottles left in his cooler and only a case or two back home. When Dan
1:59.7	realizes how close he is to running out of Coke, his eyes flash red with anger. Frustrated, Dan
2:06.8	reaches for his office phone and dials a number. Thank you for calling the Coca-Cola hotline. How may
2:12.5	help you? Tell me it's not true. Tell me you're not taking away my Coke.
2:20.0	When the operator confirmed the news that New Coke would be replacing what was his favorite
2:24.9	beverage in the world, Dan was gobsmacked. After sitting at his desk in silence for 20 minutes,
2:31.3	Dan borrowed a pickup truck from a coworker, drove to a San Antonio Botler and bought 110 cases of
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wondery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Wondery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.