Sales of Diet Coke fell by over 50% in the US last year

Falling sales in the US over the past 5 years have prompted the soft-drinks manufacturer to take this drastic action.

Last year saw sales of Diet Coke fall by an astonishing 57.4% in the United States, a trend that was mirrored by the UK market.

That's the biggest decrease in the history of Diet Coke. Many economists had already been predicting a significant change after Diet Coke's slump during the first half of 2003.

Failed advertisement campaign

Today's decision comes despite the record-breaking advertising campaign that ran across the US last Autumn.

Coca-Cola were reported to have spent in excess of $220 million on the commercials, which ran on TV and radio and in a wide range of magazines and newspapers.

The company also launched a similar campaign in the UK, expecting it to trigger a turn-around in Diet Coke's fortunes, however, this was not the case.

Diet Coke also took on a new marketing director in October of last year, but his appointment was short-lived.

He lasted just 3 weeks in the post, with colleagues branding him "naive", "toothless" and "woefully inept" in several important newspapers.

After his dismissal in November, no replacement was found and Diet Coke continued to struggle.

Other drinks fail to follow trend

During this bleak period of time for Diet Coke, Coca-Cola's other soft-drinks have seen modest increases in sales in both the United States and Europe.

This seemed to merely rub salt into the wounds of Coca-Cola's executives and they responded by calling a press-conference this afternoon. There it was announced that production of Diet Coke in the US is set to cease at the start of March, with Europe following on the 1st of April.

The amazing news comes at a time when the US economy in general is recovering, but now the end of Diet Coke is a black cloud on the horizon that refuses to go away.