Editing Diet Coke (section)

== History ==
[[File:Logo_of_Diet_Coke_(1982–1987).svg|left|thumb|120x120px|First Diet Coke logo, used from 1982–88]]
[[File:Giant, Inflatable Diet Coke Can 1980s.jpg|left|thumb|200x200px|An inflatable Diet Coke can in the 1980s]]
When [[Diet drink|diet colas]] first entered the market, beginning with [[Diet Rite]] in 1958, the Coca-Cola Company had a long-standing policy to use the Coca-Cola name only on its [[Coca-Cola|flagship cola]], and so its diet cola was named [[Tab (drink)|Tab]] when it was released in 1963. Its rival [[Pepsi]] had no such qualms, and after the long-term success of its sugar-free [[Diet Pepsi]] (launched in 1964) became clear, Coca-Cola decided to launch a competing sugar-free brand under the Coca-Cola name that could be marketed more easily than Tab. Diet Coke was launched in 1982 and quickly overtook Tab in sales by a wide margin, though the older drink would remain on the market for decades until Coca-Cola discontinued Tab during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] along with other of the company's slower-selling drinks in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PBS NewsHour Weekend Full Episode December 19, 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiNPVV_KQRU |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810152725/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiNPVV_KQRU |archive-date=August 10, 2022 |access-date=January 19, 2022 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref>

Diet Coke is not based on the [[Coca-Cola formula]], but instead on Tab.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} The controversial [[New Coke]], introduced in 1985, used a version of the Diet Coke recipe that contained [[high-fructose corn syrup]] and had a slightly different balance of ingredients. In 2005, the company introduced [[Coca-Cola Zero]] (renamed Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in 2017), a sugar-free formula more closely based on original Coca-Cola.

In 2005, under pressure from retailer [[Walmart]] (which was impressed with the over-the-counter popularity of [[Splenda]] sweetener), the company released a new formulation called "Diet Coke sweetened with Splenda".<ref>"[http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/presscenter/newproducts_dietcoke_splenda.html Diet Coke Sweetened with Splenda] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111024321/http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/presscenter/newproducts_dietcoke_splenda.html|date=January 11, 2010}}." The Coca-Cola Company. 2009. Web. February 9, 2010.</ref> [[Sucralose]] and [[acesulfame potassium]] replaced aspartame in this version. As the formulation was done to mollify one retailer, this variety had little advertising and promotion, as the company preferred to market [[Coca-Cola Zero]] instead. By late 2009, most distributors had stopped distributing the Splenda-formulated Diet Coke.

[[File:English_&_Hebrew_Coke_labels.jpg|thumb|English and Hebrew Coca-Cola labels]]
In 2018, in an effort to be more appealing to [[millennials]], Diet Coke was packaged in a taller, more slender can (of the same volume) and introduced four new flavors.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Klara, Robert |date=January 10, 2018 |title=Can Diet Coke's New Skinny, Rainbow-Colored Cans Attract the Millennials It Covets? |url=http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/can-diet-cokes-new-skinny-rainbow-colored-cans-attract-the-millennials-it-covets/ |url-status=live |magazine=AdWeek |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218091236/http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/can-diet-cokes-new-skinny-rainbow-colored-cans-attract-the-millennials-it-covets/ |archive-date=February 18, 2018 |access-date=February 17, 2018}}</ref> The cans reverted to the conventional shape a year later.