New Coke

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I am not sure about common sense, but I remember the new coke thing. This article is going on about some subconscious attachment, which I guess could be true in part. However, the fact is when coke changed the flavor of their product to one that tasted like pepsi they ticked off all the people who were already drinking their product because they thought pepsi tasted like crap.

All the tasting tests that were performed happened to be done on subjects who didn't 'think pepsi tasted like crap'? I find that highly dubious.

What I think can be learnt is that humans don't like to change old habits, even though they will be better off for it, as well as the highly prejudiced nature of humans.

I would wonder if they used people who already preferred coke for these taste tests. The pepsi challenge is what made pepsi popular during this time. It was a great marketing ploy, booths in every grocery store. I remember taking it a few times. If you picked coke you felt like you had failed the 'challenge'. Coke forgot about their loyal customers when they discontinued their original product.

I was a sprite drinker myself.

Well, I would have to give some credit to this. I am not very fond of change. I imagine pepsi would clean corrosion off a battery just as good as coke, so I am not sure about being better off...although I am sure that is not what you meant.

All right... I'm not going to challenge an old person like you about issues like that.

What I think can be learnt is that humans don't like to change old habits, even though they will be better off for it, as well as the highly prejudiced nature of humans.

l the people who were already drinking their product because they thought pepsi tasted like crap.
All the tasting tests that were performed happened to be done on subjects who didn't 'think pepsi tasted like crap'? I find that highly dubious.

In talks, and his book Blink, author Malcolm Gladwell relates his conversations with market researchers in the food industry who put most of the blame for the failure of New Coke on the flawed nature of taste tests. They claim most are subject to systematic biases.

Tests such as the Pepsi Challenge were what are called in the industry "sip tests", meaning that drinkers were given small samples (less than a can or bottle's worth) to try out. Gladwell contends that what people say they like in these tests may not reflect what they will actually buy to sit at home and drink over a week or so.[55] Carol Dollard, who once worked in new product development for Pepsi, told Gladwell, "I've seen many times where the sip test will give you one result and the home-use test will give you the exact opposite."[56] For example, although many consumers react positively to the sweeter taste of Pepsi when drinking it in small volumes, it may become unattractively sickly when drunk in quantity. Coke, on the other hand, may be more attractive for drinking in volume, precisely because it is less sweet. A more comprehensive testing regimen could possibly have revealed this, Gladwell's sources believe.

I miss pepsi clear ='/