Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar are the new cola rivals
Listeners of a certain age might remember the cola wars. In the 1980s and 1990s, Coca-Cola and Pepsi went head-to-head in a commercial rivalry to win soda drinkers’ loyalty. Coca-Cola emerged victorious from the cola wars. Not only was its classic recipe more popular than Pepsi’s, but Diet Coke became entrenched in the culture in a way that Diet Pepsi never could. Still, Pepsi always gave Coke a good run for their money.
But in the 2000s, consumer preferences started to change. No longer did consumers want to ingest 150 calories from just a fizzy drink—and what about all those ingredients that are hard to pronounce?
No, the trend of the 2010s and beyond was set to be health, fitness, wellness, simplicity. Even the soda companies seemed resigned to that fate. The global soft drink companies diversified into bottled water, juices, and snacks—including healthy snacks.
In the U.S., sales of soft drinks—including the diet formulations—declined 27 percent between 2004 and 2023. The diet recipes, which have no calories, were not enough to save the category. In fact, diet sodas were declining just as fast as the market overall.
But then, soft drink makers hit on a new trend: zero sugar.
If you’re not a soda drinker, you might be thinking—wait a minute, I thought Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi had no calories?
You’re right: they don’t. And with no calories, they have no sugar. But they are their own recipes. Diet Coke has its own taste profile; it’s not meant to be a no-calorie version of the original Coca-Cola. Diet Coke uses aspartame as its sweetener. That gives it a distinct aftertaste—slightly chemical, with less of the caramel-sugar sweetness of Classic Coke. Diet Coke also has about a third more caffeine than the original recipe.
From the beginning, Diet Coke developed its own type of customer: It was popular with women who wanted to enjoy a drink with no calories.
The brand’s early marketing was aimed at women watching their weight: it came in a sleek, silver can; ads featured glamorous women with the tagline “just for the taste of it.” A famous ad campaign featured construction workers taking a “Diet Coke break” under the hot sun. But the campaign was aimed at the women enjoying the view of the sweaty construction workers. There was no escaping it: Diet Coke became associated with weight-conscious women, and the association stuck for decades.
All this is to say that Diet Coke—and other “diet” sodas—were their own thing: they had their own taste and their own market. They weren’t going to capture consumers who had switched away from full-calorie sodas.
Luckily, though, Coca-Cola, and the other soft drink makers, had hit on a recipe that did mimic the taste of the original, had the same caffeine content as the original, but had no calories. This is Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. Pepsi, Fanta, and others have their own versions.
Many fans of the classic recipe didn’t like the taste of diet colas. But zero sugar versions taste remarkably similar to the originals, making it easy to switch—or to come back. It’s the real thing (just without the sugar). The marketing was important too. A lot of health-conscious people—especially men—want a healthier option, but they don’t like the word diet. With men, “zero” beats “diet” any day of the week.
Coke and Pepsi marketed their zero sugar products to men and to fans of the original recipes. They changed the packaging to look like variations on the original. Coca-Cola’s original can is red with white lettering; zero sugar is red with black lettering. Neither Coke nor Pepsi used silver for their zero-calorie products.
The zero sugar recipe—and name—worked wonders for the soda industry. The category’s long decline has reversed: now, global consumers are drinking more carbonated beverages again. Coca-Cola Zero Sugar surpassed Diet Coke in sales in the early 2020s, and there’s no end in sight. The company said it has seen 14 percent growth in zero sugar in the last year, while sales of Diet Coke are flat.
Zero sugar formulas are also crushing it internationally. The company says that Coca-Cola Zero Sugar is growing in all regions, including 30 percent growth in Brazil last year.
What about Pepsi? Pepsi has its own zero-sugar recipe, but it hasn’t come close to matching the success of its rival. Now, if you ask a group of friends what cola they prefer, they’re more likely to debate Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar than they are to talk about Coke versus Pepsi.
Jeff’s take
So which one do you prefer?
When I was a kid, I was allowed to have one can of Coca-Cola—the classic recipe, in the twelve-ounce can—after school. Just one, and it had to be before four o’clock because of the caffeine.
As I grew up, I didn’t think much about it, I guess I drank a normal amount of soda. I wasn’t too health conscious in my early twenties, I’ll admit it. But over the years, I stopped drinking soda entirely. I didn’t like the taste of Diet Coke—there’s too much of that chemical, metallic aftertaste. And I didn’t want the calories of the original recipe.
But then during the pandemic, I was making salads for lunch at home every day, and I just wanted something crisp and fresh to go with my salads. So I started buying Coca-Cola Zero Sugar…and you know what? I’m hooked. I still drink it. Not every day, but if I have lunch at home, I have Coke Zero Sugar. And if I’m out—movie theater, restaurant, whatever—if I want a soda, I have zero sugar.
Back when I first started drinking it, I could always find it in the grocery store. Convenience stores would often have it; not always, but often. Movie theaters, McDonald’s, certainly sit-down restaurants typically wouldn’t have it. And there was no chance they had zero sugar on the plane.
But now, it’s all different. I see zero-sugar colas everywhere, you can even find zero-sugar Sprite, ginger ale, and root beer if you look hard enough.
Listen, I know it’s not healthy. But there are worse vices, right? And if it makes a difference, I usually buy the ten-ounce cans, so it’s not quite as much as a normal can.
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