Coca-Cola 'New Coke' + Stranger Things S3 (2019)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/nH8nVl9ocps
Context: "The launch of 'New Coke' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke 40 years ago, in 1985, is one of the most famous case studies in the world of branding and marketing. It is also one of the biggest mistakes made by a big consumer brand, with many lessons to learn from. On April 23 of that year, The Coca-Cola Company decided to change the formula of its most popular drink for the first time in 99 years and launch it as 'New Coke'. The objective was to regain market share in the US and in the cola category – especially against Pepsi – but things didn’t go as planned. The backlash from consumers was so huge that the company had to go back to the original Coca-Cola formula" (Andrivet, M., 2025). Concept: "Personal nostalgia encompasses a longing for the lived past (Merchant, LaTour, Ford, and LaTour, forthcoming). Vicarious nostalgia on the other hand, 'deals with nostalgia for a period outside of the individual's living memory' (Goulding, 2002, page 542) that was never directly experienced by the consumer (Baker and Kennedy, 1994). Vicarious nostalgia, also referred to as historical nostalgia, examines the experience of emotionally connecting to and fantasizing about experiences and associations from past eras (Stern, 1992)" (Merchant, A. and G. M. Rose, 2013, p.2620). More: Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) defends 'New Coke' in Stranger Things S3E7 ('Chapter Seven: The Bite') https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7911930/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe3GjCgVUdM https://www.reddit.com/r/StrangerThings/comments/wcvtan/cocacola_ad_for_stranger_things_3_the_marketing/ Related: crossover/cross-promotion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-promotion between Stranger Things + 'Hawkins Fried Chicken' (KFC) https://newpractices.co.uk/messaging/#v08-dcdQGjE Bibliography: Merchant, A. and G. M. Rose (2013). "Effects of advertising-evoked vicarious nostalgia on brand heritage." Journal of Business Research 66(12): 2619–2625. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2012.05.021 None, D. T. J., None, D. V. K. M. & None, M. D. K. (2025). 'Digital Nostalgia Marketing: How Past-Centric Ads Affect Gen Z Consumption'. Advances in Consumer Research, 2(4), 4279-4291. https://acr-journal.com/article/digital-nostalgia-marketing-how-past-centric-ads-affect-gen-z-consumption-1527/ https://acr-journal.com/article/download/pdf/1527/ Andrivet, M. (2025). 'New Coke: A Classic Branding Case Study on a Major Product Change Failure'. The Branding Journal. https://www.thebrandingjournal.com/2025/02/new-coke/
