New Coke (1985): did it need fixing?

1985

Coca-Cola

Before: Coca-Cola, same formula since the 1880s, give or take.
The fix: Swapped the recipe for a sweeter one after it won nearly 200,000 taste tests.
Then: Calls to the consumer hotline went from 400 a day to 1,500. A group called Old Cola Drinkers of America claimed 100,000 members. When the old formula came back, Coke took 31,600 calls in two days.

Took it back

Original back on shelves 79 days later as Coca-Cola Classic.

Your call

More fixes nobody asked for

2010

Gap

Before: GAP in white letters on a navy blue box, in use for about 20 years.
The fix: Went to 'Gap' in black Helvetica with a small blue square.
Then: The new logo went up October 6, 2010, and the internet hated it on sight. Gap said it had learned 'just how much energy there is around our brand.'

Took it back

Blue box back on October 12, 2010, six days later.

Your call

2016

Apple

Before: MacBook Pro with MagSafe, HDMI, an SD card slot and ordinary keys.
The fix: Went all USB-C, added the thin butterfly keyboard, and replaced the function keys with a Touch Bar.
Then: Butterfly keys could be knocked out by a speck of dust. Apple paid $50 million to settle a class action in 2022. The 2021 MacBook Pro brought back MagSafe, HDMI, the SD slot and function keys.

Took it back

The 2021 models undid nearly all of it.

Your call

1998

Corning, then World Kitchen

Before: Pyrex bakeware made of borosilicate, the glass used for lab beakers.
The fix: Corning sold its housewares arm in 1998. From then on, US Pyrex was all tempered soda-lime glass, phased in since the 1950s.
Then: Borosilicate takes about three times the thermal shock. Consumer Reports confirmed the gap in 2011, in tests it admitted went against the instructions. Pyrex sold in Europe stayed borosilicate.

Kept it.

Still soda-lime in the US.

Your call