Coca-Cola Cherry

 

 

Coca-Cola Cherry

Type	Cherry-flavored cola
Manufacturer	The Coca-Cola Company
Country of origin	United States
Introduced	1985
Variants	Diet Coke Cherry, Coca-Cola Cherry Zero
Related products	Coca-Cola Black Cherry Vanilla

Coca-Cola Cherry, originally introduced (and still known in some countries) as Cherry Coke and informally known as Chola, is a cherry-flavored version of Coca-Cola. It is produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company and its bottlers in the United States and some international markets.

History

Long before its official introduction in 1985, many diners and drugstore soda fountains dispensed an unofficial version of Cherry Coke by adding cherry-flavored syrup to the Coca-Cola mix; this drink is called cherry cola.

Coca-Cola tested Cherry Coke on an audience at the 1982 World's Fair. After the introduction of Cherry Coke and the failure of New Coke the drink then entered mainstream production in 1985. Cherry Coke, which by 2007 had been renamed Coca-Cola Cherry in the U.S. and some other countries, was the third variation of Coca-Cola at that time – the others being classic Coke and Diet Coke – and the first flavored Coke. It was released concurrently with the far less popular New Coke, and gained significant market share when that product was discontinued in 1992. Diet Cherry Coke was introduced in 1986, and renamed "Diet Coke Cherry" in 2005. A second low-calorie version, Coca-Cola Cherry Zero (based on Coca-Cola Zero), was added in 2007.

The Coca-Cola Company would later introduce other flavored Coke variants, beginning with Vanilla Coke in May 2002, later followed by lime, raspberry, lemon, Black Cherry Vanilla and orange variants. Many of these are currently only sold in overseas markets or are microdispensed through Coca-Cola's Freestyle vending machines.

International distribution

2L bottle in the United Kingdom

Coca-Cola Cherry has been offered in a number of different countries. Currently, in addition to the U.S., the drink is available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Germany, France, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Bulgaria, Peru and Uruguay. It is also available in Japan, but is still known as Cherry Coke in that country. It is available in Ireland through British pharmaceutical chains such as Boots and Superdrug. Cherry Coke is also available in Belgium but only in cans of 250 ml.

In the past the product has been offered in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Latvia, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. It is no longer bottled in these countries, apparently due to poor sales, although the U.S. product is imported by some Canadian convenience stores near the Canada-U.S. border, as well as by IGA, Costco and specialty retailers in Australia. In Sweden it is available at different grocery stores sourcing their goods from Gray's American Stores, an importer. In Norway, Cherry Coke is available at Reitan Group stores.

Since January 2011, Coca-Cola Cherry is also available in Switzerland distributed by Coop.

Packaging and marketing

An empty bottle and can of Coca-Cola Cherry, using the 2007-11 U.S. design

Packaging for Coca-Cola Cherry differs greatly from country to country. In most areas, the current can and bottle label designs are based on the standard Coca-Cola label in a pink or purple hue, often with images of cherries.

On February 7, 2007, Coca-Cola launched a new campaign for the Coca-Cola Cherry brand in the U.S., resulting in a significant redesign of the product's label. Jay-Z was chosen to be the spokesman and played a part in designing the new can graphics. A new diet version, Coca-Cola Cherry Zero, was also introduced, although the original Diet Coke Cherry will remain available in 12-packs. These designs remained in place until early 2011, when a cleaner design (closer to the label designs used overseas) was introduced.