Coca-Cola's newest drink, Coca-Cola Blak, is
scheduled to be officially released on April 3rd. The
drink, which we have mentioned
before, is a blend of classic Coke and coffee "essence." The company is trying to market the uniqueness
of the product, but similar blends have been released in the past and have failed.
In 1994, for example, Pepsi began to test market a soda called Pepsi Kona. It tasted more like coffee than soda and consumers were not thrilled. Back in 1995, Starbucks partnered with Pepsi and began to market a coffee product called Mazagran. It was a lightly carbonated iced coffee beverage and it, too, flopped. Customers were willing to try it once, based on the Starbucks name alone, but the drink was not enough to encourage repeat sales. The question is whether it was the carbonation or the coffee that put consumers off the original drink. Since coffee sales have boomed, one can only assume that the combination of coffee and carbonation has not previously been held in high regard by consumers.










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 16)
3-19-2006 @ 9:54AM
Marvo said...
Well if you're REALLY eager to try Coca Cola Blak, you can buy bottles on eBay from Europe for $5-$10 plus shipping.
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3-22-2006 @ 6:35AM
al said...
Manhattan Special is a great carbonated coffee drink .Its been around for a century.It has limited production though and is hard to find so you might of not heard of it.It tastes like carbonated expresso.Its not cheap either.
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3-22-2006 @ 6:43AM
Maria Moncada said...
I'll try anything once. It sounds like something that will sell. Good luck Coca Cola!
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3-22-2006 @ 6:49AM
Kim Lucente said...
I got a funny feeling that Blak........might just prove to be Blech!!!.........and not stay on the market for very long!!!
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3-22-2006 @ 7:00AM
Glynda said...
My family is still reeling from the sudden disappearance of Dt. Vanilla Coke. Oh boy. Another "coffee drink". No thanks. We'll stick to our regular cup of joe in the morning and eagerly await the return of the Dt. Vanilla coke that is supposedly going to be a "seasonal" item. I bet there are more folks out there like us that was sad to see it go! Forget sad! We searched stores in 3 states for the stuff before finding out it had been discontinued.
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3-22-2006 @ 7:07AM
Claude said...
Last week on Regis and Kelly, Anderson Cooper was guest hosting with Kelly and they tried Coca-Cola Blak .. Anderson Cooper had this terrible look on his face when he tried it .. needless to say I dont have high hopes for the drink
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3-22-2006 @ 7:12AM
connie brinkley said...
I myself can`t wait to try it. I say try everything once because you can`t say one way or the other if its good or not if you don`t try it. Know what I mean?
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3-22-2006 @ 7:14AM
Kathy said...
Carbonated coffee??...think that is what will make this product Fade to Blak...
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3-22-2006 @ 7:21AM
Gene said...
No thanks. I'll take my coffee when I want and my cola when I want and ne'er the two shall mix. Good luck, though, Coca Cola.
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3-22-2006 @ 7:24AM
Ellis Carlton said...
I,after many years have stopped drinking Coco Cola. I am disgusted at the whole company because of bad management, raising the prices to recover the loses caused by the bad management. Stock in now worthless also. Being a Pharmacist and an Atlantan I was always proud of the heritage of Coke but no more. I think all of the new products are a poor attempt to nothing. Change the upper people, get rid of the high salarys, get to work on selling the produce at a reasonable price and let us go.
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3-22-2006 @ 7:24AM
Derry Wilson said...
Coca-cola blak will be just like Tia Maria and coke - without the alcohol. I can't wait to try it....
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3-22-2006 @ 7:26AM
janet said...
YUK! YUK! YUK! YUK! YUK! YUK! YUK! YUK!
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY THEIR ZERO COKE ISN'T FOUND ON THE MARKET, EASILY ??????????????????????????????
ZERO IS SO MUCH BETTER TASTING AND -0- CALORIES/-0-CAFFEINE ... IT'S THE BEST THEY'VE COME OUT WITH, AS YET! WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO MORE EASILY FIND IT!
AND, WOULD LOVE-LOVE TO BE ABLE TO BUY IT IN THE CONVENIENT 12 0Z BOTTLES, LIKE REGULAR & DIET COKES, IS AVAILABLE IN. SO MUCH MORE CONVENIENT !!!!!!!!!!!
LOVE THE ZERO! BLAK = yuk! yuk! yuk!
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3-22-2006 @ 7:29AM
Roseann said...
The concept of coca-cola blak is nothing new. I was raised in the Bronx where "Manhattan Soda" was very popular. "Manhattan" is a coffee flavored carbonated beverage that's been on the market for years. I honestly don't think it will work.
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3-22-2006 @ 7:30AM
Joyce said...
Glynda, I'm with you on the diet vanilla coke! My family loved the stuff too! Why would they replace it with that nasty diet cherry vanilla flavor? If I wanted cherry coke, I'd have already been buying it. And why do they keep lime coke around? I, too, called all the stores in town looking my diet vanilla before I called the local coke distributor to find out it had been pulled. I'm eagerly waiting for vanilla to make it's grand reappearance! I really miss it.
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3-22-2006 @ 7:34AM
tom antoine said...
Not a chance it'll stay on the market. That odd taste
has been tried before. Plus with that hiphop spelling
it will seen as child/teen pop.
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3-22-2006 @ 7:35AM
Margo Burke said...
coke keeps on starting new flavors that are horrible. remember when they stopped making the coke classic years ago? what a mistake that was. in the last few yrs. the stores have been flooded w/ vanilla, lime and cherry. yuck. i am a classic coke junkee. they came out with C2 last year- 1/2 the calories and 1/2 the carbs which was great & then that disapeard too to be replaced with Coke 0. ughh. what happened to the C2 it was great!
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3-22-2006 @ 7:40AM
Melisa Gonzalez said...
I think the Coca Cola Blak will taste pretty good. The combination of coffee mixed with anything sounds good to me. It'll be like drinking a chilled coffee and lots of people like that.
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3-22-2006 @ 7:40AM
jean marc said...
Hi,
it is competing against the Diet PEPSI cappucino here in Europe and Coca Cola has lauched the Diet Coke Orange last week..the blak is sold in metal cans here and not in bottles ( looks more like red bull ) . I think it has a little chance here in Europe, we will see..
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3-22-2006 @ 7:44AM
sue said...
blak-yuck!
joyce, i am so glad they have the diet lime coke...it is so refreshing and not overly sweet like that diet vanilla...and eveything has vanilla anymore!
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3-22-2006 @ 7:44AM
Jeannie Toplin said...
Personally I like the Diet Coke with Lime. I also liked the Diet Vanilla but hate the new cherry vanilla. However, my favorite is the Coke Zero - Tastes just like coke without the calories!
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