Life

Diet Coke Has 4 New Flavors & A Completely New Look To Go With Them

by Megan Grant

Anyone who enjoys a can of fizzy, ice cold Diet Coke instantly recognizes the silver can with red and black writing — so if you don't do well with change, you might want to look away. Diet Coke just got a makeover with four new flavors and colorful cans, and they don't look much like what you've been drinking out of for the last 35 years.

The redesign was a calculated move that has been in the works for the last couple of years, according to Coca-Cola, starting with 30 flavor options that they narrowed down thanks to feedback from around 10,000 consumers. Diet soda drink sales have been going down across the board, and shoppers — especially younger ones — have been turning to *fancy* drinks like that one no one can pronounce: LaCroix. According to an interview with BuzzFeed News, the team behind Coca-Cola knew they needed to evolve, so they designed a totally different can that's longer and leaner, and introduced new and creative flavors including twisted mango, zesty blood orange, ginger lime, and feisty cherry. The new design features what they're calling the "High Line" — the vertical stripe, representing motion.

Don't worry — the original Diet Coke still exists, and the recipe hasn't changed. "You don't mess with a good thing," the brand said in a press release. Important to note, though, is that Diet Coke with lime and Diet Coke Cherry will soon only be available on Amazon.

Check out the new designs for yourself. New flavor — who dis?

If it looks familiar, that's probably because it bears a resemblance to another one of Coca-Cola's products: Dasani Sparkling. Even one of the flavors is similar.

Diet Coke made the big announcement on Twitter, and results seem to be mixed. Some are saddened by the change because honestly, Diet Coke? We've always loved you for your inner beauty, and you don't need to change a thing.

Others are eager to try the new flavors.

Really eager...

Others are all, "Meh." Maybe they'll try it. Maybe not. Whatevs.

While Diet Coke's crowd is largely baby boomers, every brand on the face of this planet is hustling to keep millennials — the biggest (and arguably, most powerful) generation — paying attention to them. This was part of the motivation behind making the new Diet Coke so darn pretty: they wanted to "make sure packages are Insta-ready," says Rafael Acevedo, the group director for Coca-Cola North America. Diet Coke wants "to be right by their side," Acevedo said of millennials. "We're contemporizing the Diet Coke brand and portfolio with sleek packaging and new flavors that are appealing to new audiences."

While Diet Coke has reportedly seen a drop in sales, they aren't the only ones. Since 2005, diet soda sales in general have dropped 34 percent, according to Business Insider. While diet soda was supposed to be the answer for calorie-conscious people, these products lost a lot of fans for health reasons — like the artificial ingredients.

Don't feel too worried for DC, though. There's still pulling in a reported $2.1 billion in sales each year, and thousands of cans are popped open every minute. Hopefully, these new and improved, super sleek, colorful variations will grab millennials' attention and give sales a boost.

If I'm being honest with myself, these are rather Instagrammable. I can already picture a can on my faux marble countertop, laying on my crisp white comforter (for contrast, obvi), or perhaps in a park, with trees as the backdrop.

Beginning this month, you'll be able to buy the new Diet Coke by the can in addition to packs of eight.