Failed New Coke Launch Becoming a Movie from 'Zombieland' and 'Deadpool' Writers

Still mocked some thirty years after its launch, New Coke remains one of the greatest product debacles of all-time. Nothing comes close in the modern era, and companies probably use it as a cautionary tale for market leaders that dare to rock the boat too much. It was when Coca-Cola, who were already number one in the soft drink market, flipped the switch on a new formula they hoped would put Pepsi on the shelf for good. Boy were they wrong, and the story of their failure is now about to become a movie.

Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, writers behind Zombieland and Deadpool, have acquired the rights to Thomas Oliver's 1987 book, The Real Coke, The Real Story, with plans to turn it into a feature film. Oliver accounts Coke's terrible marketing bust, a failed attempt to lure in the younger demographic who were turning to the much hipper Pepsi brand. 

Pepsi's clever "Pepsi Challenge" campaign, which saw ads with people choosing Pepsi in blind taste tests, led to Coke perceiving Pepsi as a genuine threat....which they weren't. Coke drinkers didn't just reject the new formula, they took to the streets in protest. Could you imagine something like that happening today over a new soft drink? Sure, there would be online petitions and somebody would probably blog about it, but actual protests? So this is a pretty interesting story, and let's hope this gets moving before everything goes flat.