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]]

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

[u/sllewgh → u/[deleted]]

domineering smell narrow aback quickest shocking alive friendly file command

[u/DeathByPianos → u/sllewgh]

Slightly bitter! One time I fell asleep at an all-night LAN party and my "friends" put a caffeine tablet in my open mouth. The pill slowly dissolved and pooled in my dormant mouth I awoke and was greeted by the worst flavor hell I can imagine. Thank god caffeine is soluble in water. It was still so hard to flush out the sides of my tongue. I cringe at the memory even today.

[u/21thCenturySchizoid → u/DeathByPianos]

Most of the time those tablets are guarana based or even ginseng based. Guarana has a horrible and very strong bitter taste.