Coca-Cola drops 'Classic,' putting cap on new Coke

Coca-Cola Co said it will remove the “classic” name from its flagship brand, writing the final chapter in one of the greatest marketing blunders in US business history.

The word “classic” only appears on Coca-Cola bottles and cans in the US It was removed from 16-ounce bottles in limited test markets and will come off all products by mid-year to make the company’s packaging consistent worldwide, Scott Williamson, a spokesman for Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, said on Saturday.

“It gives us a chance to harmonize Coca-Cola’s name in North America with every other country in the world,” Williamson said in a telephone interview.

In April 1985, Coca-Cola introduced New Coke, changing the secret formula first introduced in 1886 when John Stith Pemberton made the syrup and sold it to a pharmacy, which served it as a fountain soda.