New Coke returns

Netflix and Coca-Cola have been working on the promotion for 18 months, Barry Smyth says, and with good reason. The marketing initiative, spurred after Netflix learned that “Stranger Things” showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer intended to make New Coke part of the story in the show’s third season, required a lot of research and work.

Coca-Cola will make available about 500,000 cans of New Coke to the public, who can buy it online as part of a package at CokeStore.com/1985, or have a chance to get it at the company’s World of Coca-Cola the week of June 3 on select days. As part of the promotion, Coca-Cola will also unveil limited-edition packages of original Coke with “Stranger Things” designs on them. And the company will launch an ad in movie theaters – a remake of an actual 1985 ad for New Coke directed by the Duffers themselves.

The formula for New Coke has languished in the Atlanta vaults of The Coca-Cola Company for years, left to collect dust after an ill-fated launch in 1985. New Coked remained on store shelves for just 79 days.

Netflix : Third season of Stranger Things : July 4