Diet Coke (also branded as Coca-Cola Light, Coca-Cola Diet or Coca-Cola Light Taste) is a sugar-free and low-calorie soft drink produced and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company. It contains artificial sweeteners instead of sugar. Unveiled on July 8, 1982,[1] and introduced in the United States one month later,[2] it was the first new brand since Coca-Cola's creation in 1886 to use the Coca-Cola trademark. The product quickly overtook the company's existing diet cola, Tab, in sales.
History
First Diet Coke logo, used from 1982–88
When diet colas first entered the market, beginning with Diet Rite in 1958, the Coca-Cola Company had a long-standing policy to use the Coca-Cola name only on its flagship cola, and so its diet cola was named Tab when it was released in 1963. Its rival Pepsi had no such qualms, and after the long-term success of its sugar-free Diet Pepsi (launched in 1964) became clear, Coca-Cola decided to launch a competing sugar-free brand under the Coca-Cola name that could be marketed more easily than Tab. Diet Coke was launched in 1982 and quickly overtook Tab in sales by a wide margin, though the older drink would remain on the market for decades until Coca-Cola discontinued Tab during the COVID-19 pandemic along with other of the company's slower-selling drinks in 2020.[3]
Diet Coke is not based on the Coca-Cola formula, but instead on Tab. The controversial New Coke, introduced in 1985, used a version of the Diet Coke recipe that contained high-fructose corn syrup and had a slightly different balance of ingredients. In 2005, the company introduced Coca-Cola Zero (renamed Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in 2017), a sugar-free formula more closely based on original Coca-Cola.
In 2005, under pressure from retailer Walmart (which was impressed with the over-the-counter popularity of Splenda sweetener), the company released a new formulation called "Diet Coke sweetened with Splenda".[4]Sucralose and acesulfame potassium replaced aspartame in this version. As the formulation was done to mollify one retailer, this variety had little advertising and promotion, as the company preferred to market Coca-Cola Zero instead. By late 2009, most distributors had stopped distributing the Splenda-formulated Diet Coke.
English and Hebrew Coca-Cola labels
In 2018, in an effort to be more appealing to millennials, Diet Coke was packaged in a taller, more slender can (of the same volume) and introduced four new flavors.[5] The cans reverted to the conventional shape a year later.
Sales
Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi have capitalized on the markets of people who require low sugar regimens, such as diabetics and people concerned with calorie intake. In the UK, a 330 ml can of Diet Coke contains around 1.3 kilocalories (5 kJ) compared to 142 kilocalories (595 kJ) for a regular can of Coca-Cola.[6]
Sweeteners
Diet Coke in the US was sweetened with aspartame, an artificial sweetener that became available in the United States in 1983.[7] Early on, to reduce costs, this was blended with saccharin. After Diet Rite cola advertised its 100 percent use of aspartame, and the manufacturer of NutraSweet (then G. D. Searle & Company) warned that the NutraSweet trademark would not be made available to a blend of sweeteners, Coca-Cola switched the formula to 100 percent aspartame. Diet Coke from fountain dispensers still contains some saccharin to extend shelf life.[8]
According to the Coca-Cola Company, the sweetener blend is "formulated for each country based on consumer preference".[9]Cyclamates were banned in the US in 1970;[10][11] in countries where they are permitted Diet Coke or Coca-Cola Light may be sweetened with a blend containing aspartame, cyclamates, and acesulfame potassium.
Diet Coke with a cherry flavor. Was available in the United States and United Kingdom until it was replaced in both territories with Diet Coke Feisty Cherry in 2018, although remained available for a limited time in the former country via Amazon.com during the time of the new flavor rollout,[12] but has since been discontinued. It still currently remains available from Coca-Cola Freestyle machines.
Diet Coke with a vanilla flavor. Available in Hong Kong, New Zealand (only 300mL and 600mL), Australia, Belgium, Canada. Only available in the United States from Coca-Cola Freestyle machines.
Diet Coke with a lemon and lime flavor. Only available in Mexico and the United Kingdom.
Diet Coke Sweetened with Splenda
2005
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A version that is sweetened with Splenda. Diet Coke with Splenda contains 2.83 mgs of caffeine per fluid ounce. The drink contains acesulfame potassium and sucralose; aspartame was used previously as sweetener.
Coca-Cola Light with a blood orange flavor. Only available in Belgium, France and Luxembourg. A similar drink was introduced to the United States and Canada in 2018, known as Diet Coke Zesty Blood Orange.
2011 – Diet Coke surpasses Pepsi in sales for the first time to become the second most popular soda in the United States after Coca-Cola.[15]
2013 – In the UK, Coca-Cola swapped the logo on Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero bottles and cans in the UK with 150 of Britain's most popular names for a summer-long "Share a Coke" campaign.[16][17]
2014 – In the US Coca-Cola swapped the logo on Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero bottles and cans in the US with 150 of America's most popular names for a summer-long "Share a Coke" campaign
2014 – Diet Coke invites consumers to 'Get A Taste' of the good life. This campaign asks the question "what if life tasted this good?". Television commercials debuted September 24. The first commercial take place on an airplane when a woman is surrounded by crying babies but takes a sip of Diet Coke and opens her eyes into a speak-easy party.
2018 – On January 22, Diet Coke introduced Ginger Lime, Feisty Cherry, Zesty Blood Orange and Twisted Mango flavors in a skinny can, targeting millennials.[18]
2019 – Diet Coke added two new flavors, Blueberry Acai and Strawberry Guava to their "Because I Can" Campaign line.[19]
The most commonly distributed version of Diet Coke uses aspartame as a sweetener. As one of the most intensively scrutinized food additives, the safety of aspartame has been studied since its discovery.[36] Aspartame has been deemed safe for human consumption by the regulatory agencies of many countries.[36]
^"Diet Coke introduced". Wilmington Morning Star. North Carolina. Associated Press. July 9, 1982. p. 6B. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
^Sunset, Bali (May 29, 2008). "YOU ARE WHAT YOU DRINK CAMPAIGN". Marketing Campaign Case Studies. Archived from the original on August 3, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
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