Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI): A Video Game Kingpin Rises and The Coca-Cola Company (KO) Admits Defeat

Replacing The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) had been almost like replacing Santa Claus — a marketing icon The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) had a hand in developing. People just weren’t ready or willing to accept something different from what they had grown up with. Coke President Donald Keough admitted as much at the time, saying, “We did not understand the deep emotions of so many of our customers for Coca-Cola.”

The high-profile flameout of New The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) gave the public a new cultural touchstone for corporate failure. Whenever a new product bombed spectacularly, it would be a “New Coke moment.” New Coke stuck around for a while, but it was never especially popular. Coke Classic, on the other hand, surged on its return to store shelves. The company rode The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Classic and the hugely popular new Diet Coke — which actually lent its formulation to New Coke — to greater sales, and its dominance of the soft-drink industry earned it a placement on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow Jones Indices:.DJI) two years later.

The article A Video Game Kingpin Rises and Coke Admits Defeat originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Alex Planes.

Fool contributor Alex Planes holds no financial position in any company mentioned here. Add him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter @TMFBiggles for more insight into markets, history, and technology.The Motley Fool recommends Activision Blizzard and Coca-Cola. The Motley Fool owns shares of Activision Blizzard.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.