Do you remember New Coke?

I saw this week that Brian Dyson, the former Coca-Cola executive who championed New Coke, passed away at 90.

In 1985, Coca-Cola replaced its famous formula with a sweeter version that had performed well in taste tests. The soda drinking public hated it. People flooded the company with angry calls and letters, and Coca-Cola brought back the original formula as Coca-Cola Classic less than three months later. Sales surged, and one of the great marketing fiascos somehow helped restore the brand to prominence.

For our runners outside the Southeast, go ahead and send me your “Pepsi is better” comments. I’m ready!

When I worked at Coca-Cola, the company briefly brought New Coke back as part of a Stranger Things promotion. The show’s third season was set in 1985, so Coca-Cola produced a limited run in the old cans. It was fun to try this famous failure more than 30 years later. And it really did taste different.

Something near the end of Dyson’s obituary stayed with me.

In a 1991 commencement address at my alma mater, Georgia Tech, he asked graduates to imagine life as five balls being juggled in the air: work, family, health, friends and spirit.

“Work is a rubber ball,” he told them. “If you drop it, it will bounce back.” The others were made of glass. Drop one, and it could be scuffed, damaged or even shattered.

Dyson knew something about the difference. New Coke failed spectacularly, but Coca-Cola recovered. So did his career. Our health, families and friendships do not always bounce back so cleanly.

Well said.

Photo Credit: WSJ/ZUMA Press