Diet Coke

**Diet Coke**, **Coca-Cola light** or **Light Taste Coca-Cola** (in the Benelux and Germany) is a sugar-free and no-calorie soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. It contains artificial sweeteners instead of sugar. Unveiled on July 8, 1982, and introduced in the United States on August 9, it was the first new brand since 1886 to use the Coca-Cola trademark. The product quickly overtook the company's existing diet cola, Tab, in sales.

## History

When diet colas first entered the market beginning with Diet Rite, the Coca-Cola Company had a long-standing policy to not use the Coca-Cola name on any product other than the 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, which could be marketed more easily than Tab, which it did in 1982.

Diet Coke does not use a modified form of the Coca-Cola recipe, but instead an entirely different formula based on the Tab formula. 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 popularity of Splenda sweetener), the company released a new formulation called "Diet Coke sweetened with Splenda". Sucralose and acesulfame potassium replaced aspartame in this version. Early sales were weaker than anticipated; however, Coca-Cola did little advertising for the brand, investing money and advertising in Coca-Cola Zero instead. By late 2009, some distributors had stopped supplying Diet Coke sweetened with Splenda.

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.

## 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 kilojoules) compared to 142 kilocalories (595 kJ) for a regular can of Coca-Cola.

## Sweeteners

Diet Coke was sweetened with aspartame, an artificial sweetener, after the sweetener became available in the United States in 1983. Early on, to save money, this was also originally in a blend 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.

According to the Coca-Cola Company, "[t]he sweetener blend used for Diet Coke/Coca-Cola Light is formulated for each country based on consumer preference." In countries in which cyclamates are not banned (as they were in the US in 1970), Diet Coke or Coca-Cola Light may be sweetened with a blend containing aspartame, cyclamates, and acesulfame potassium.

## Brand portfolio

### Product timeline

* 1982 – Diet Coke is introduced, becoming the largest-selling low-calorie soft drink in America.
* 1983 – Diet Coke is introduced in the UK.
* 1986 – Diet Cherry Coke is introduced in American markets.
* 1994 – Diet Coke changes logo.
* 1999 – Diet Cherry Coke changes logo.
* 2001 – Diet Coke with Lemon is introduced.
* 2002 – Diet Vanilla Coke is introduced.
	+ Diet Coke and Diet Cherry Coke change logo.
* 2004 – Diet Coke with Lime is introduced.
	+ Diet Coke with Lemon changes logo.
* 2005 – Coca-Cola Zero is introduced, largest product launch by Coca-Cola in 22 years.
* 2005 – Diet Coke sweetened with Splenda is introduced.
	+ Diet Cherry Coke and Diet Vanilla Coke change logos and are renamed.
* 2006 – Diet Coke Black Cherry Vanilla is introduced.
	+ Diet Coke with Lemon and Diet Coke Vanilla are discontinued.
* 2007 – Diet Coke Plus is introduced.
	+ Diet Coke Black Cherry Vanilla is discontinued.
	+ Diet Coke and its six flavors changes logo.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 2017 – Coca-Cola Zero Sugar is reformulated, first tested in UK (June, 2016).
* 2018 – On January 22, Diet Coke introduced Ginger Lime, Feisty Cherry, Zesty Blood Orange and Twisted Mango flavors in a skinny can, targeting millennials.
* 2019 – Diet Coke added two new flavors, Blueberry Acai and Strawberry Guava to their "Because I Can" Campaign line.