Coke’s Hilariously Confusing Late-'90s Marketing Campaign & The Best of WikiHow

Season 4, Episode 329,   Jun 03, 2021, 05:05 PM

How do you escape an ostrich attack? How do you pretend to be possessed so you can really *sell* that Regan Halloween costume? How do you alienate the number one target demo of your soda brand with a campaign so confusing, everyone just gives up? Bethany and Kathleen are answering all of those questions and more on this week’s episode!

Check out our merch, including our *NEW* Pride Tank! —> https://store.dftba.com/collections/an-acquired-taste-podcast 

Please support the companies that support us! 


Public Goods - Public Goods is the one stop shop for sustainable, high quality everyday essentials made from clean ingredients at an affordable price. Just go to publicgoods.com/TASTE or use code TASTE at checkout to get $15 off your first order! 


Rothy’s - Upgrade your closet with washable, sustainable, stylish shoes and bags from Rothy’s. Plus, they just launched men’s shoes, so make sure to check them out for you or the guy in your life. Head to Rothys.com/TASTE to find your new favorites today!


BetaBrand Dress Pants Yoga Pants - Right now, our listeners can get 30% off their first Betabrand order when you go to Betabrand.com/Taste 


Brüush - These new colors are only available for a limited time, so get them before they’re just a distant dream. Get 15% off your Brüush toothbrush kit and refill plan when you use promo code TASTE at bruush.com  


BETHANY’S SOURCES:


“5 Realities of the Coca-Cola Card, or The Most Confusing Marketing Campaign in History” by Greg Ott:
https://www.cracked.com/article_29794_5-realities-the-coca-cola-card-or-the-most-confusing-marketing-campaign-in-history.html
Coke’s “IYDKYDG” archived site: http://www.amyelkin.com/iydkydg/DOCS/home.html
https://www.history.com/news/cola-wars-pepsi-new-coke-failure
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-pepsi-lost-cola-war-against-coke-2012-5
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1996-PEPSI-STUFF-MERCHANDISE-CATALOG-Soda-Ephemera-SHAQ-Jeff-Gordon-PROTOTYPE-A6-/324187372811
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/27/business/the-media-business-pepsi-stuff-campaign-set.html

KATHLEEN’S SOURCES:
https://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Face-Serum
https://www.wikihow.com/Taste-Wine
https://www.wikihow-fun.com/Act-Like-You%27re-Possessed
https://www.wikihow-fun.com/Appreciate-Death-Metal
https://www.wikihow.com/Survive-an-Encounter-with-an-Ostrich