Coca-Cola's New 'Spicy' Drink Fails to Deliver

Ah, the rise of spice.

You know, chilli! Food that's hot. That makes your mouth go numb, at best. Or sends you into waves of nausea and sweating, at worst (depending on what you enjoy).

While many cultures have used chilli in their cuisine for centuries, it seems recently everything I want to buy has a chilli option.

There's a chilli pilsner at my favourite brewery up north.

Doritos is claiming to add heat to my tongue.

A peanut butter with hot sauce in it.

In fact, Jody Denton, Sr. Executive Research Chef for Frito-Lay, Inc., said in an interview with Prepared Foods that 'over the past several decades, consumer demand for spicy foods forms nearly a straight line up on a graph.'

So I'm not surprised Coca-Cola decided to jump on the chilli train, too.

And they were in a rush to make it to the train station, too (forgive me for rolling with this pun).

Earlier this year, they released 'Coca-Cola Spiced' as a permanent fixture in their range.

Initially described as 'a complex flavor profile...with refreshing bursts of raspberry and a curated blend of warm spiced flavors,' the company never claimed it was HOT.

Well, not in writing.

But if you watch their video ad for the drink, you'll see why people thought it would be. In the video, we see some Gen-Zers and a stylish elderly woman trying the new Coca-Cola Spiced.

Visually, we see each of their taste bud reactions. There's a fire-y, strange bobble head. Someone falling into a vat of smiling ping-pong-ball-looking things. And the elderly lady singing opera in a dress made of red balls.

Oh, and a man in a tux playing the trumpet.

All of these imagined taste bud visuals are red-hot. And I know that's the Coca-Cola colour, but it's also what we associate with heat.

No wonder people were left unsatisfied when they tried the new Coke, only to find it tasted like a Christmas cake.

So, only seven months after its release, Coca-Cola has pulled their newest 'permanent' flavour from the market.

Ok, the Christmas cake description is my personal take (going of the flavour profile they described). But their customer dissatisfaction is backed by the statement Coca-Cola released when pulling the product:

'We’re always looking at what our consumers like and adjusting our range of products.'

In other words, people didn't like it.

I particularly love this sweet review, where the man states at the beginning, 'This is the first permanent Coke that has been released in three years, so yeah, it's here to stay. I hope it's good.'

Then goes on to say the heat is 'totally MIA.'

Bless.

So, what can we learn from this spicy debacle?

In short, make sure your product holds up.

While Coca-Cola did say the beverage wasn't spicy but rather 'bold,’ by using the word 'spicy' and releasing their spice-coded advertisement, consumers thought it would be.

A few people have pointed out that the company may have rushed the processes of creating the flavour. While it usually takes a year for Coke to create a new offering, they made Coca-Cola Spiced in just seven weeks.

It goes to show that you can cover your a$$ with disclaimers outlining the 'real' taste profile all you'd like, but if your product isn't good or matches your campaign, people aren't going to buy it.

Especially when it comes to spice, which people often buy for that novelty factor. Meaning: It really has to do something different.

Well, I'm left with just one option for signing this off:

Stay spicy <3.

-Maggie, Copywriter