Their numbers had been declining, they perceived difficulties in their attempts to engage the younger generations, and they worried that their brand was too regionally connected with the South and could not continue to fulfill their national and international ambitions without modification—all of these factors motivated the "experts" at Coca-Cola in 1985 to abandon the drink formula that they had sold for a century and to introduce the now-infamous New Coke.
Although he had won the ratings war for the 11:30 Eastern television time slot for twelve straight years, Jay Leno recently learned that "experts" in charge at NBC had determined to abandon a formula that had been successful since the days of Jack Paar and to bring unprecedented changes to late-night television.
"Change We Can Believe In"
The moral of the stories: Beware experts selling change. Caveat Emptor.
lol good one, Bart.
ReplyDeleteDavid
Funny! But I might add one slight correction. Coke was losing the Patent on the formula and had to change until the issue was resolved. But the plan to do away with the original did not work and thus the return was as you state a great case in point!
ReplyDeleteCould the GCR task force recommendations be next on your list?
ReplyDeleteBryant,
ReplyDeleteThe principle indicated in this post is applicable across a wide variety of situations.
It cannot really be directed toward the recommendations of the reorganization task force at this time, for those recommendations do not even exist yet! I write surmising that many churches and businesses will face their own situations not reported by any newsfeed but for which these thoughts are worth considering.
I will not pre-judge the recommendations of the reorganization task force. I am thankful for the people who serve on that body—people who all love the Lord and love Southern Baptists. I am hopeful that they will not fall victim to the maladies that have affected Coca-Cola and NBC. When they make their recommendations, I will evaluate them on their merits and make my own decision about those recommendations one-by-one.
In doing so, will I be applying the principle of caveat emptor? Yessiree. If the people on the task force are the kind of people that I believe them to be, that's exactly what they would want us to do.
Caveat emptor aside, is there not a need for a "Coke Zero" proposal? Are we not hidebound in our comfortable Southern (intending both geographic and denominational) ways in our familiar Southern areas that we are lacking the means to reach the lost in America, much less around the globe? (Been reading Les Puryear's post and am a little fired up now....)
ReplyDeleteAndrew,
ReplyDeleteNo. We are not.
As a historian I would assert that the distinctiveness of Southern culture is at its lowest point since the Colonial period. Everything from media to chain restaurants and big box stores have made it more true than ever before that Boston = Atlanta = Houston = Los Angeles. Of course, these equations are not absolutely true, but they are more true than they have ever been before.
Moving from culture-at-large to church culture, a Cowboy Church movement has arisen largely because the standard Southern Baptist church culture has almost nothing Southern about it. The music is Rock, the marketing is Madison Avenue, the platform dress is Abercrombie & Fitch, and the A-V technology is Times Square.
What's Southern about that?
"The music is Rock, the marketing is Madison Avenue, the platform dress is Abercrombie & Fitch, and the A-V technology is Times Square. What's Southern about that?"
ReplyDeleteGranted...in fact, I couldn't agree more! However, why is it that what seems to work in Atlanta & Houston doesn't seem to work in Boston & Los Angeles? I emphasize "seem" since the gospel should work anywhere from 1st century Jerusalem to 21st century Kansas City...but our techniques of taking that gospel to the people in need of it appear to only be effective in cultures (Southern) that have generationally been saturated with it. Can we only evangelize the cultural Christians now?
Brother Bart,
ReplyDeleteYou said:
a Cowboy Church movement has arisen largely because the standard Southern Baptist church culture has almost nothing Southern about it.
I say:
Very true. And I find it quite interesting that you would equate the word "Southern" in the SBC name with "cowboy." I wonder if that's what folks who don't know much about Southern Baptists might think of when they hear "Southern Baptist" as well....
Peace to you brother,
From the Middle East
Andrew,
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I have a good answer for your question. One could attribute it to the sovereign hand of God, I suppose. But, let's attempt to delve into the matter a bit more.
I'm thinking that your question is profound enough to provide the substance for an entire post unto itself.