Coca-Cola’s newest mystery flavor is billed to “taste like the future”, and has an unconventional co-creator responsible for it and the packaging design…artificial intelligence. .
The limited-edition, Coke Y3000, is the newest flavor the result of a partnering between regular ol’ humans and AI coming together to nail down flavor pairings.
First, humans determined what flavors (good ol’ market research) reminded people of “the future”, then AI took over to analyze taste pairings, and packaging designs.
The mystery flavor is a zero-calorie beverage, and due to the nature of it’s “mysterious-ness”, the exact flavor will not be pin-pointed by consumers.
Oana Vlad, Senior Deirector of global stategy for Coda-Cola says, “We’re never really going to answer that question” in a “straightforward” way. She previously told CNN. “the flavor profile is always, we say, 85 to 90% Coke. And then that 10-to-15% twist of something unexpected.”
The charm of the mystery flavor for Coca-Cola is to keep consumers guessing, and the conversation flowing.
Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been looking to the future, looking for a way to update their brand’s aesthetic in a rapidly evolving world, and technological advances like, AI. What better way than to embrace what’s to come?
“We hope that Coca‑Cola will still be as relevant and refreshing in the year 3000 as it is today, so we challenged ourselves to explore the concept of what a Coke from the future might taste like—and what kind of experiences would a Coke from the future unlock?”
Coca-Cola’s competitor, Pepsi recently celebrated their 125 anniversary, and dropped a new logo design for the occasion.
