| Coca-Cola C2 | |
| Type: | Diet soda |
| Manufacturer: | The Coca-Cola Company |
| Origin: | Japan |
| Introduced: | 2004 |
| Related: | Coca-Cola Life, Pepsi ONE, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero |
Coca-Cola C2 (also referred to as Coke C2, C2 Cola, or simply C2) was a cola-flavored beverage produced in response to the low-carbohydrate diet trend.[1] This Coke product was marketed as having half the carbohydrates, sugars and calories compared to standard Coca-Cola. It contained aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose in addition to the high fructose corn syrup (and Sugar in Japan) typically found in cola beverages distributed in America.[2]
Codenamed as "Coca-Cola Ultra",[3] The Coca-Cola Company unrevealed C2 in April 2004, announcing that the drink would be released in Japan prior to its release in United States.[4]
The drink launched in Japan on June 7, 2004, with an advertising campaign featuring Japanese footballer Hidetoshi Nakata.[5] The drink's launch in the United States at the end of the month was promoted on radio and television, and movie theaters initially using The Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and later Queen's "I Want to Break Free". Various NASCAR Cup Series drivers ran paint schemes in the 2004 Pepsi 400 race to promote the new drink. The drink was released in Canada shortly afterwards. A planned launch for C2 in the United Kingdom was aborted in December 2004 after research had showed fears that the drink would overtake Diet Coke in sales.[6]
American sales did not live up to early expectations mainly due to customer disinterest in a mid-calorie soda; however, Coca-Cola said the brand would remain in its lineup, even while Pepsi discontinued its equivalent product, Pepsi Edge,[7] in late 2005, just one year after its introduction.[8]
By 2005, many store shelves completely replaced the product with Coca-Cola Zero due to display, shelving and storage limitations. The drink was silently discontinued in Japan in 2006 for similar reasons as in the United States, and by 2007 the drink had disappeared from all store shelves where it had previously remained in favor of Coca-Cola Cherry Zero.
In 2013, The Coca-Cola Company introduced a similar product - Coca-Cola Life, another mid-calorie variant of Coca-Cola which used Stevia leaf extract in addition to Sugar or Corn Syrup. Coca-Cola Life, while having had a larger availability rate than C2, shared similar low sales and was entirely discontinued by 2020.