Trump provides a particularly notable case study, as both a Diet Coke superfan and someone who has helped perpetuate the drink's negative reputation.
In 2012, Trump tweeted: "I have never seen a thin person drinking Diet Coke."
Donald Trump's Twitter
Swapping sweeteners does little to reassure customers. Diet Pepsi sales declined 7.2% in 2016 after the company tried to win over customers concerned about the ingredient aspartame by rolling out an aspartame-free diet cola.
Diet Coke
"Diet CSD [carbonated soft drinks] sales were supposed to be the solution
to the industry's calorie dilemma," Monica Kvamme, a consultant at Zenith
Global Ltd, said at Beverage Digest's Market Smarts conference last week.
"But, that was short-lived, as diet sales peaked in 2005 and have been
falling ever since."
Since 2005, diet soda sales have dropped a whopping 34%. By all counts, it's a
struggling sector in the soda industry.
Yet, Coca-Cola has avoided making any major changes to Diet Coke. That is
because of super fans like Trump who are dedicated to the soda as is.
"I don't think we're likely to change Diet Coke," Coca-Cola CEO
James Quincey said in a call with reporters in October."It has a large following."
While Coca-Cola has found success with its Coke Zero Sugar reformulation, Diet Pepsi's struggles proves changing a drink's recipe
can cause even larger problems. That's especially true when a brand has a cult
follow, like Diet Coke does.
So, as Coca-Cola works to find a way to turn the brand around, Diet Coke is
banking on loyal fans drinking dozens of cans of cola a week including,
apparently, the president.
More: Retail Diet Coke Coca-Cola PepsiCo
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