rtising and promotional campaigns. Woodruff made Coke available in every state of the Union through the soda fountain. For all of these achievements he earned the name, "The Boss"(Facts, Figures, and Features Multiple pages). In 1985, the Coca-Cola Company made what has been known as one of the biggest marketing blunder. The Coca-Cola company stumbled onto the new formula in efforts to produce diet Coke. They put forth 4 million dollars of research to come up with the new formula. The decision to change their formula and pull the old Coke off the market came about because taste tests showed a distinct preference for the new formula. The new formula was a sweeter variation with less tang, it was also slightly smoother(Demott 54). Robert Woodruff's death was a large contributor to the change because he stated that he would never change Coca-Cola's formula. Another factor that influenced the change was that Coke's market share fell 2.5 percent in four years. Each percentage point lost or gain meant 200 million dollars. A financial analyst said, "Coke's market share fell from 24.3 percent in 1980 to 21.8 percent in 1984"(Things go better with Coke 14). This was the first flavor change since the existence of the Coca- Cola company. The change was announced April 23, 1985 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at the Lincoln Center. Some two hundred TV and newspaper reporters attended this very glitzy announcement. It included a question and answer session, a history of Coca-Cola, and many other elements(Oliver 131). The debut was accompanied by an advertising campaign that revived the Coca-Cola theme song of the early 1970s, "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke"(Say it ain't so, Coke 24). The Jingle read like this: I'd like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony. I'd like to buy the world a Coke And keep it company. The change to the world's best selling soft drink was heard by 81 percent of the United States population within twenty-four hours ...
