Line foreman Timothy Lane watched as ‘new’ Coke came off a production line on May 9, 1985, at the Bluegrass Coca-Cola Bottling Co. plant on Leestown Road. The next day, the newly formulated Coke became available to consumers in Lexington and Central Kentucky. New Coke was the unofficial popular name for the unpopular reformulation of Coca-Cola. Known as “the new taste of Coca-Cola” until 1992, when it was renamed Coca-Cola II, the drink was created to address Coca-Cola’s sliding market share. Coke had been steadily losing ground to diet soft drinks and non-cola beverages for many years. The company worked on the new drink for five years, and the American public’s reaction to it was negative, even hostile, making the new cola a major marketing failure. Less than three months later, the company brought back Coke’s original formula, rebranded as “Coca-Cola Classic.” It resulted in a significant gain in sales, which led to speculation that the New Coke formula was a marketing ploy. The company denied that. New Coke was discontinued in 2002. Photo by Tom Woods | Staff