4 ms·

The American Gustation Crisis of 1985

30 points by ca98am79 12y ago

chrisbennet 12y ago
This crashes chrome on my iPad.
- fsk 12y ago
  I'm starting to hate sites that don't render anything unless you enable Javascript. HN should ban them or have a setting where you can filter them out.
  - mrob 12y ago
    You can read the text of this page without enabling Javascript by disabling CSS (View, Page Style, No Style on Firefox).
  - daniel-cussen 12y ago
    Shouldn't be that hard to implement. At least, on the surface of it.
- smoyer 12y ago
  I've got a v1 iPad ... Both Chrome and Safari crash before rendering a single pixel!
  - tragomaskhalos 12y ago
    Same here. Sadly this is happening more and more - e.g. I can no longer read the Guardian online since they "revamped" the site some months ago. Ridiculous really - it's just static content fercrissakes, just serve it already
    - smoyer 12y ago
      And this started happening sometime in 2012/2013 ... it was a $500 device and they treat it like I should just trash it and upgrade. Stuck on IO5? Thanks Apple ... I won't be buying any more of your bright, shiny toys (I love your hardware but you treat your customers like we're all fan-bois and your software has been getting worse since the Apple ][e).
    - gone35 12y ago
      Same here... although I've recently noticed some improvement in some Guardian pages actually loading without crashing. But then I also try maximize available RAM by having no tabs, assiduously closing any 'background' apps, disabling Spotlight, etc... so it's likely not representative of typical, reasonable usage. Quite ridiculous state of affairs, overall.
ggchappell 12y ago
Interesting article. Fun-but-little-known fact. Shortly after the New Coke episode, the formula for Heinz 57 steak sauce was changed. The label was also redesigned. This was all done very quietly. I imagine they had a marketing blitz planned, but, seeing what happened with Coke, they decided not to say a word.
mikerichards 12y ago
This guy in my neighborhood was so freaked out by new coke, that he had his parents buy years worth of cases of coke classic. I can't remember how long new coke stayed around and I vaguely recall it wasn't horrible, it just wasn't Coke.
- ghshephard 12y ago
  Stockpiling Coke because of taste is ironic as Coke starts to turn around 6 months, and is downright terrible by the end of the year.
frankydp 12y ago
Note: This article was originally entitled "Bite the New Wax Tadpole," but a number of readers pointed out that this was excessively obscure and/or lame.
- nkurz 12y ago
  For context, there is an "urban legend"[1] that when Coca Cola was first introduced into China, a "marketing blunder" was made such that the name translated as "Bite the Wax Tadpole". The parallel name for New Coke (under the worst possible marketing plan possible) would thus be "Bite the New Wax Tadpole". Amusing, but definitely obscure. [1] http://www.bitethewaxtadpole.com/bitethewaxtadpole.htm http://www.bitethewaxtadpole.com/bitethewaxtadpole.htm
  - ezequiel-garzon 12y ago
    Thanks for the reference. The website, and the company behind it, are almost as interesting as the Coca-Cola story! I guess they're still active and offering hosting and web design, but definitely stuck in the year 2000.
raldi 12y ago
> Despite outspending Pepsi by almost $100 million annually, Coke's market share fell from 60% to 22%. Every source I can find contradicts this claim, e.g.: https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/35016/area14mp/3fhzg6zz-1384235525.jpg https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d968... Can anyone find a citation for it?
- matwood 12y ago
  Maybe it was a US blip? Worldwide Pepsi really isn't in the same conversation with Coke more than doubling Pepsi in marketshare.
elmin 12y ago
Please consider making your site static if possible. It makes it much more tolerant to the traffic which is taking it down now, faster and often more accessible. There's a write up here, but you can also just google 'static website': https://eager.io/blog/build-static-websites https://eager.io/blog/build-static-websites
smegel 12y ago
So are these funny green bottles of "coke life" I see everywhere a kind of NewCoke3?
- Moto7451 12y ago
  No, they're Coke Classic with Stevia in place of some of the sugar.
  - smegel 12y ago
    Well I'd give it a try, but I'm pretty much addicted to Coke Zero.
MBlume 12y ago
> Some critics will say Coca-Cola made a marketing mistake. Some cynics will say we planned the whole thing. The truth is we are not that dumb and we are not that smart. I'm never sure how to interpret this statement. What is the middle ground between making a marketing mistake and planning the whole thing? If they were not dumb enough to bring a product to market that everyone would soon hate, and not smart enough to predict that this would wind up making everyone love them for bringing the original back, then...wouldn't they have not introduced New Coke in the first place?

30 points by ca98am79 12y ago

chrisbennet 12y ago

This crashes chrome on my iPad.

fsk 12y ago
I'm starting to hate sites that don't render anything unless you enable Javascript. HN should ban them or have a setting where you can filter them out.
- mrob 12y ago
  You can read the text of this page without enabling Javascript by disabling CSS (View, Page Style, No Style on Firefox).
- daniel-cussen 12y ago
  Shouldn't be that hard to implement. At least, on the surface of it.
smoyer 12y ago
I've got a v1 iPad ... Both Chrome and Safari crash before rendering a single pixel!
- tragomaskhalos 12y ago
  Same here. Sadly this is happening more and more - e.g. I can no longer read the Guardian online since they "revamped" the site some months ago. Ridiculous really - it's just static content fercrissakes, just serve it already
  - smoyer 12y ago
    And this started happening sometime in 2012/2013 ... it was a $500 device and they treat it like I should just trash it and upgrade. Stuck on IO5? Thanks Apple ... I won't be buying any more of your bright, shiny toys (I love your hardware but you treat your customers like we're all fan-bois and your software has been getting worse since the Apple ][e).
  - gone35 12y ago
    Same here... although I've recently noticed some improvement in some Guardian pages actually loading without crashing. But then I also try maximize available RAM by having no tabs, assiduously closing any 'background' apps, disabling Spotlight, etc... so it's likely not representative of typical, reasonable usage. Quite ridiculous state of affairs, overall.

ggchappell 12y ago

Interesting article. Fun-but-little-known fact. Shortly after the New Coke episode, the formula for Heinz 57 steak sauce was changed. The label was also redesigned. This was all done very quietly. I imagine they had a marketing blitz planned, but, seeing what happened with Coke, they decided not to say a word.

mikerichards 12y ago

This guy in my neighborhood was so freaked out by new coke, that he had his parents buy years worth of cases of coke classic. I can't remember how long new coke stayed around and I vaguely recall it wasn't horrible, it just wasn't Coke.

ghshephard 12y ago
Stockpiling Coke because of taste is ironic as Coke starts to turn around 6 months, and is downright terrible by the end of the year.

frankydp 12y ago

Note: This article was originally entitled "Bite the New Wax Tadpole," but a number of readers pointed out that this was excessively obscure and/or lame.

nkurz 12y ago
For context, there is an "urban legend"[1] that when Coca Cola was first introduced into China, a "marketing blunder" was made such that the name translated as "Bite the Wax Tadpole". The parallel name for New Coke (under the worst possible marketing plan possible) would thus be "Bite the New Wax Tadpole". Amusing, but definitely obscure. [1] http://www.bitethewaxtadpole.com/bitethewaxtadpole.htm http://www.bitethewaxtadpole.com/bitethewaxtadpole.htm
- ezequiel-garzon 12y ago
  Thanks for the reference. The website, and the company behind it, are almost as interesting as the Coca-Cola story! I guess they're still active and offering hosting and web design, but definitely stuck in the year 2000.

raldi 12y ago

> Despite outspending Pepsi by almost $100 million annually, Coke's market share fell from 60% to 22%. Every source I can find contradicts this claim, e.g.: https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/35016/area14mp/3fhzg6zz-1384235525.jpg https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d968... Can anyone find a citation for it?

matwood 12y ago
Maybe it was a US blip? Worldwide Pepsi really isn't in the same conversation with Coke more than doubling Pepsi in marketshare.

elmin 12y ago

Please consider making your site static if possible. It makes it much more tolerant to the traffic which is taking it down now, faster and often more accessible. There's a write up here, but you can also just google 'static website': https://eager.io/blog/build-static-websites https://eager.io/blog/build-static-websites

smegel 12y ago

So are these funny green bottles of "coke life" I see everywhere a kind of NewCoke3?

Moto7451 12y ago
No, they're Coke Classic with Stevia in place of some of the sugar.
- smegel 12y ago
  Well I'd give it a try, but I'm pretty much addicted to Coke Zero.

MBlume 12y ago

> Some critics will say Coca-Cola made a marketing mistake. Some cynics will say we planned the whole thing. The truth is we are not that dumb and we are not that smart. I'm never sure how to interpret this statement. What is the middle ground between making a marketing mistake and planning the whole thing? If they were not dumb enough to bring a product to market that everyone would soon hate, and not smart enough to predict that this would wind up making everyone love them for bringing the original back, then...wouldn't they have not introduced New Coke in the first place?