AP file photo

After 24 years, one of the most famous blunders in marketing history is quietly coming to an end.

The Coca-Cola Co. is dropping the “Classic” from its red labels in some Southeast regions, and the word will be gone from all of its packaging by the summer, the company said Friday.

The “Classic” designation — which appears under the “Coca-Cola” script on labels — was added to the packaging in 1985, to distinguish the original formula from a sweeter, wildly unpopular new version of Coke.

New Coke has long since disappeared from shelves, making the “Classic” qualification unnecessary. The font size of the “Classic” has been shrinking in the past decade, and the company removed it from labels in Canada in 2007.

“When people think Coke, they think classic, so more than two decades after introducing the word classic, the reason for being — quote unquote — for that word as a descriptor has disappeared,” said Scott Williamson, a Coca-Cola spokesman.