ELI5: Why does Coca-cola still advertise?

[u/bigdubsy]

Why do companies that have seemingly maxed out on brand recognition still spend so much money on advertising? There is not a person watching TV who doesn't know about Pepsi/Coke. So it occurs to me that they cannot increase the awareness of their product or bring new customers to the product. Without creating new customers, isn't advertisement a waste of money?

I understand that they need to advertise new products, but oftentimes, it's not a new product featured in a TV commercial.

The big soda companies are the best example I can think of.

Edit: Answered. Thanks everyone!

Edit 2: Thanks again to everybody for the discussions! I learned alot more than I expected. If we weren't all strangers on the internet, I'd buy everyone a Pepsi.

[u/[deleted]]

Recipe-wise, it's almost identical to Pepsi

Bullshit.

[u/zephyrtr → u/[deleted]]

Yeah Pepsi tastes more like sugar, Coke tastes more like caramel and caffeine.

[u/[deleted] → u/zephyrtr]

What does caffeine taste like..? For the record, I agree with you about the caramel part.

[u/TheBeefyMungPie → u/[deleted]]

You can purchase caffeine pills for staying awake. They are about 200 mg of caffeine. And once you taste the pill you can kinda recognize it when you drink sodas or coffee.

( I bought caffeine pills 2 days ago so that I could stay awake studying for my finals.)

[u/[deleted] → u/TheBeefyMungPie]

Dark black tea is also fantastic to stay awake. So good.