Once upon a time, back in 1886, John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola and sold it to customers of an Atlanta pharmacy. Over the course of the following century the world fell in love with ice-cold Coke.

And the rest was history.  That was that.

Or, at least, it was until the birth of Diet Coke – the no-calorie alternative to Coca-Cola,– almost 100 years later. It made its US debut in 1982 at Radio City in NYC and a year later (the same year the first mobile phone was released) Europe got a taste.

Diet Coke was the first product since the very beginning to include the Coca-Cola trademarked name. Since then, the ‘Diet Coke break’ has become a cultural phenomenon and Diet Coke packaging has had makeovers from the likes of Diane Von Furstenburg, Karl Lagerfeld, Moschino and Versace.

Diet Coke: the timeline

1983: Diet Coke is launched in Europe

1986: Diet Coke becomes the world’s top low-calorie drink

1990: Advertising Age editors select Diet Coke as the Brand of the Decade

1994: The world gets a glimpse of Lucky Vanous, the original Diet Coke break hunk

1996: Diet Coke announces its partnership with the Grammy Awards

2001 – 2006: Extra flavour! Diet Vanilla Coke, Diet Coke with Lime and Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke are all launched in various markets

2012: Jean Paul Gaultier is appointed creative director, designing three bottles and two cans

2013: Diet Coke celebrates its 30th birthday. Marc Jacobs is unveiled as the brand’s new creative director. Diet Coke gets its fourth hunk.

2015: Diet Coke inspires fans everywhere to #RegretNothing