Our children will never know refreshment
20 Apr
Everyone knows what an unmitigated disaster New Coke was. What most people don’t realize is that it was RuPaul and his Atlanta public access television friends who saved generations of children around the world from perhaps never knowing the taste of a Coca-Cola Classic.
The day New Coke was introduced in 1985, RuPaul and The American Music Show host Potsy Duncan took to the streets of Atlanta, leading other protesters in pouring out bottles of the new concoction and waving signs that said things like, “We want the real thing” and “Our children will never know refreshment.”
You can barely make out what RuPaul’s sign says, but after staring long enough I figured it out: “PLEASE CASTRO TAKE GAIZUETA [sic] BACK WE’LL KEEP THE MARIELITAS.”
I also had no idea that there were half a dozen conspiracy theories surrounding New Coke’s miscalculations, many involving the controversial high-fructose corn syrup.
I’d now like to take this opportunity to give a shout-out to our readers who are keeping it real over at Coca-Cola HQ!
Tags: civil disobedience, coca-cola, new coke, potsy duncan, revolution, rupaul, the american music show
I was 9 when the Mariel boatlift occurred and all the adults in my life were talking about it all the time as we lived in Miami, Fl. I pictured in my head some sort of big device that lifted boats.
if you want the REAL shit, go up briarcliff now and get kosher coke, while passover supplies last. NO CORN SYRUP, like the pre-New original. most kids still don’t know refreshment.