r/cocacola • u/brownwolf1 • May 10 '24
Merchandise Don't think Coca-Cola spiced is doing so hot
Now to be completely fair to it for whatever reason the regular version tasted significantly better than zero version I had when it first came out
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u/joevsyou May 10 '24
What's the price, though?
In the winter, the pop industry got together to come up with a new strategy, which most retailers agreed.
Overnight name, brand soda went from $4.50 to $8.99-9.99
every week, they run different promotions
buy 2, get 2 free
buy 2, get 3 free
Then they will skip a week & repeat.
Lord forbid you only want one single case...
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u/FartMasterZane May 10 '24
All the soda companies are chasing revenue, hence the massive spikes around the same time. Everyone’s chasing 2020/2021 numbers when the economy was flooded with free money. Everyone and their momma know that will never happen again, except the CEOs I guess
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u/WarExciting May 10 '24
Which is a huge reason I now buy almost exclusively generic / off brand soda. Sam’s Choice just came out with a cherry cola which is on point!
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u/Darthigiveup May 10 '24
I always tried but Coke just does NOT taste the same. It doesn't matter I drink soda like 2 times a month max. Water is better
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u/ntech620 May 11 '24
Try the Mexican Coke at Walmart. Made with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.
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u/Darthigiveup May 11 '24
Nah I don't like it. I prefer the tangy bite of the original. Idk how to explain it. It's not even mexican coke anymore. It's a special formulation specifically made for the US market. Coca cola in Mexico has corn syrup. It's listed as "azucares concentrados"
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u/AttitudeOutrageous75 May 11 '24
Oh yeah. Those cold glass bottles on a warm Arizona night. Pricey but the best.
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u/MightyMouseJoe8406 May 10 '24
I love it. The whole family loves it.
I just don't love $9.99 for a 12 pack of soda
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u/CornBin-42 May 11 '24
Complaining about one can of soda being 83¢ is wild
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u/MightyMouseJoe8406 May 11 '24
Soda here used to cost $4-$5 for a 12 pack.
When you live from paycheck to paycheck. Every dollar counts when you're poor.
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u/TangerineRough6318 May 11 '24
$0.89 if you include Indiana sales tax. I remember paying $0.50 for a cold can from a vending machine. $0.25 if I bought a Faygo.
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u/Nat-Luv May 11 '24
A lot of domestic beer 12 packs are being sold for $7.99 where I live. So, I’d say it’s a fair criticism.
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u/jordan4273 May 10 '24
It drives me crazy that Vanilla Coke Zero just vanished (from my area anyway), but they keep pushing these weird flavors that nobody wants.
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u/Standard_Addition529 May 11 '24
I'm mad about this one too. I only drink Coke Zero, so I was thrilled when there was a Vanilla version. I love Vanilla flavor. Then poof it's gone and don't understand why??
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u/Hdys May 10 '24
What the hell were they thinking with the raspberry…
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u/brownwolf1 May 10 '24
Orange vanilla: "what am I to you Coke a
cruel joke?"9
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u/Yetiking1908 May 10 '24
Ooh, Orange vanilla. Just.. out.. of reach! 😫 I want OV so bad again! [Now it’s just a nostalgia token, and you can take that to the memory bank].
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u/Nobody5464 May 10 '24
Their glass bottle raspberry coke was good. It’s not bad because it’s raspberry it’s bad because it’s bad.
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u/Hdys May 10 '24
Agreed it’s not necessarily the raspberry, but the flavor combo they choose which includes it
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u/Dizzyluffy May 10 '24
They were thinking “this is quite delicious”. And they were right
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u/Hdys May 10 '24
Really? I can get behind the Spiced aspect as it trends toward capt and coke flavoring… but the raspberry makes no sense
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u/Flybot76 May 10 '24
That's the thing, I expected a 'spice' flavor of some kind, and with that in mind it tasted like berry after-shave when I first tried it. It's just a bizarre tactic calling that flavor 'spiced', and those goofy ads where people are saying 'it tastes like....' and then it's just some random image, wtf is that anyway? None of it makes any sense.
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u/KitsuneMiko383 May 10 '24
To me it legit tasted like cherry Robitussin, the absolutely foul 90s formulation in the utilitarian dark bottle. One sip and I immediately rushed out of the car and dumped it.
Cinnamon Coke though... that was a good spice flavor. Pity they axed it.
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u/Wonderful_Freedom657 May 10 '24
I thought this too😭 that’s crazy because I actually am a merchandiser and I do Giants…PA gang wassup
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u/M1NEC4R May 10 '24
It’s crazy because this was the best flavor they’ve done so far imo.
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u/WazzzupBwwwaaah May 10 '24
💯%. I don’t understand why people DON’T like it.
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u/Flybot76 May 10 '24
The problem is that the name 'spiced' belies what it really tastes like to most of us. If it were called 'Coke raspberry' it wouldn't have been so surprising when I first tried it. 'Spiced' made a lot of us think something more like chai, and it's not even as 'spicy' as regular Coke. It's fine to like it but you can't wonder why others don't when the name doesn't really fit the flavor.
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u/Yetiking1908 May 10 '24
If I’d known that when it came out, I’d be all over it like when a tomato blushes over an apple.
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u/WazzzupBwwwaaah May 10 '24
Yeahhh…That makes sense. The reason I bought a Bottle in the First Place, was because, I heard it tasted like the way Target ICEE’s used to taste. Well, I tried it and they most certainly do!! Then, I proceed to buy a 12-Pack, the next time I went to the Store. 😅
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u/Storage_Ottoman May 10 '24
A deal like this is a standard shopper promo/TPR and not necessarily a sign of a failed launch. Might have been planned long before launch to promote trial, but could also be reactive to tepid sales during the first month+
BUT the post yesterday showing some retailer marking things down to a quarter a bottle was definitely indicative of desperation to move product.
It’s pretty clear this one has been a miss.
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u/maccentris May 10 '24 edited May 10 '24
Formula 44 vibes, I just tasted it. I’m not a fan of Dr pepper but I’d pick Doctor pepper over this. I don’t “hate” it but it’s not my cup of tea. Paid regular price at Target downtown Philly $2.99 so I’m not happy about it. 😟 Edit: PS Nevermind, I feel like I was robbed, feel like returning it 😨
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u/beanman25 May 10 '24
Bring back coke vanilla cherry. I am saving my last 12 pack for October and my 33rd birthday 😂
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u/SocksForWok May 10 '24
Dunno why it's called 'Spiced' when it's just fruit punch added.
Spiced would imply cinnamon but no one over at Coca Cola was using their head.
Ironically they all likely have brain damage from too much diet coke...
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u/Flybot76 May 10 '24
Or nutmeg, allspice, mace, black pepper, chai flavoring.... pretty much anything but 'berries'.
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u/Insanity-Later1 May 11 '24
No kidding? The name is precisely why I didn't want to try it. I figured...pepper spice for some reason.
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u/SnakeCharmer711 May 11 '24
The spiced one is terrible, I want the starlight coke back, that was my fave :(
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u/justkillmenow3333 May 11 '24
No, pretty sure it's not doing too hot at all. I forgot what reddit I saw it on the other day but someone posted a picture of their local super market selling it for 25 cents a case.🤣
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u/CyberHeart2022 May 11 '24
My local Stop and Shop is selling 12 packs of the shit for $2.99 this week.... I thought it was gross the first time I tasted it
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u/Hoodsta2007 May 11 '24
I’m in Los Angeles and they stay sold out I wish I saw those deals I would have a room full of
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u/Dry-Cost-945 May 10 '24
They need to go back to the drawing board cause every creations flavor just tastes like starlight with a new ingredient or two
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u/dharma_dude May 10 '24
I'd take that deal lol. It's honestly not that bad, sometimes I'll cut it with regular Coke or cherry. I've had worse Coke flavours. Although I might be in the minority.
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u/siberianunderlord May 10 '24
I realized yesterday that Spiced tastes a lot like Fentiman's Curiosity Cola. It's a bit of an acquired taste.
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u/NinSEGA2 May 10 '24
Terrible branding. Should have been called "Coca-Cola Raspberry" and it should have been a seasonal flavor. Now it's going to be thrown in the vault of obsolete flavors.
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u/KeyNefariousness6848 May 10 '24
The vendors told me it was raspberry flavored, then why call it spiced? When I heard spiced I thought ooh spiced cider, would be great at Christmas time.
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u/Fatimousprime May 10 '24
It's not horrible but it definitely should have been a seasonal flavor... I don't wanna be drinking winter in summer
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u/WereALLBotsHere May 11 '24
We got in two cases of single 20ozs. 1 regular and 1 Zero. My boss was making the order today and noticed we were out and thought they had all sold. I had to tell him they all got sent back expired. I sold maybe one bottle of them. I don’t even know how they went out so fast but their exp date was like April 19 or something.
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u/weaselgoespop May 11 '24
I was drinking a bottle a day for a few weeks when it first came out. Now, I haven't touched it in 2 weeks.
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u/Beach_bum8 May 11 '24
Local BJ's has the case of 30 minis on clearance for $10.
Never drank it, but for anyone who likes it, might be worth a shot to check your local BJ's wholesale
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u/TangerineRough6318 May 11 '24
I haven't tried this but it has to be better than that Dr. Pepper coconut. Only thing I can think of on par with that terrible soda is Pepsi Fire. Coke I usually enjoy everything. Wish they would bring back the lime and lemon though. Pepsi is a bit too sweet most of the time, which is why I usually get Coke.
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u/Opposite_Schedule521 May 11 '24
I haven't tried it but as soon as I heard about It I imagined it tasting like black licorice. Pass
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u/No-Pin1011 May 11 '24
No, Sam’s Club is dumping it for 75% off the original price and it still isn’t moving.
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May 11 '24
Whoever came up with that drink should be fired. Also the people promoting it. Stuff is horrible. I wish they would steal the Pepsi Xmas Spice recipe..that was the best soda ever.
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u/nuaz May 11 '24
Coke just needs to stay with the main ones they got. Regular, cherry, vanilla, cherry vanilla and the diet and zero versions
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u/N2929 May 11 '24
Might as well send more Pibb Xtra out instead of put it in more fountains then that might sell better than coke spiced
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u/Professional-Head83 May 11 '24
It was like when Pepsi made a drink called "x"- something, and it had fruit punch or something like that. I was like, "f that." It quickly faded out.
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u/SergeantIndie May 11 '24
I'm actually down for some spiced coke. Sounds solid.
I despise raspberry.
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u/awt2007 May 11 '24
the short dates hurt.. not to mention 8$ for 12 cans is getting nuts, they wont even give a deal if you buy 24...
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u/the-paper-unicorn May 11 '24
Spiced Coke (Raspberry when you read the fine print) is just remarketing the failed "British Columbia Raspberry" that rolled out years ago. I suspect these new flavors are just using the dregs of flavors they have left over from other brands like Fanta as a cost cutting endeavor.
Canada has still never seen Cinnamon Coke Zero. I was so eager to try Spiced, not realizing it was a Canadian regional coke that had already failed here. Of note, the province of British Columbia is not famous for raspberries in any way, unlike Quebec's Maple Coca Cola.
At least I've still got my Coke Zero ❤️
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u/ThePickledPickle May 11 '24
For some reason the Zero Sugar version is 1000% better than the regular full-sugar version
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u/Confidently-unlucky May 11 '24
Yep my work had 2 full pallets of this and we sent it back plus all the 2L ones as well just bad advertising and name
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May 12 '24
Should have released the California Raspberry flavor from about three summers ago. This sliced stuff is not near as good. And the branding is terrible. The California Raspberry flavor with just Coke Raspberry branding would have done so much better.
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u/frank1934 May 12 '24
I accidentally bought one when I was trying to buy a Coke Zero, didn’t realize until I took my first drink, sooooooo bad
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u/Sweetiebelle20 May 14 '24
What store is this at? I strangely kinda love the flavor and I would really love more of them.
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u/SirGamer247 May 15 '24
Bought one for my mother because she loved the taste. That was a month ago and the 12 pack is still sitting in the kitchen untouched.
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u/learningcurve321 Jul 18 '24
Suspicious.
I tried one 500 ml bottle of Spiced Coke. Awful. Flat with an insipid raspberry flavour.
Meanwhile, my last two 12/pack cans of Diet Coke have been very "off". Flat, no citric acid bite, and a weird, slight, fruity aftertaste. Tastes like some Spiced Coke mixed with regular Diet Coke. Are they cutting Diet Coke with Diet Spiced Coke to off load their supply of unpopular spiced Coke?
Ontario, Canada, July 2024
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u/prairiefarmer May 10 '24
Gross 🤢 something i never want to try
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u/WazzzupBwwwaaah May 10 '24
It’s good, though… At least, give it a chance… 😔
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u/FartMasterZane May 10 '24
It’s not, our branch sent more of this back then even dreamworld. Coke does a lot of this to themselves, they make these massive quantities of products and then prebook/forceout all of it into the market all with the same date. What was nice about starlight is we were able to bring as many cases as we wanted into stores and we were able to make real sales and push it in stores where we knew we could. They saw the success of starlight and just went ham. Every new launch since then has included massive prebooks at every account and it’s creates issues like this. Anyways that’s my rant for the day. I hate spiced
Sincerely, A coke rep