Mountain Dew

## Basic Info

Manufacturer: PepsiCo

Created in: 1940

Trademarked in: 1948

## History

* Developed by Barney and Ally Hartman, brothers from Georgia who moved to Knoxsville, Tennessee.
* Was originally intended to a replacement for their favorite drink mixer back home. The original formula differed greatly from today’s. It had a color and flavor similar to a lemon-lime soda.
* Mountain Dew became the drinks name because when mixed with alcohol it reminded them of the taste of moonshine, which in the 19th century was in slang terms sometimes referred to as Mountain Dew, so the name was determined to be Mountain Dew.
* The original mascot for the drink was Willy the Hillbilly.
* The brothers made a deal with the Tri-Cities Beverage Corporation to bottle the product
* Sales went poorly, even though the brothers went all over the country to various trade shows to advertise their product.
* Eventually the rights of the drink were given to the Tip Corporation, located in Marion, Virginia, and all the brothers asked for those rights was the opportunity to buy the owner dinner.
* The Tip Corporation altered the recipe a little, adding a little lemonade to the formula and releasing it in 1961.
* In 1964 the Tip Corporation was purchased by PepsiCo, and the recipe was altered further, orange flavoring and the green coloring were added, and the country-bumpkin branding was done away with. After these changes Mountain Dew got much more popular.

## Branding and Packaging

* The bottles with the twist in the bottom portion of the bottle are known as the "sidekick" design, and deputed in limited numbers in 2010 but proved popular and became the default bottle design by 2014 in the US.

* Over the years there have been 8 logos for Mountain Dew.

## Ingredients

* There are 54 g of caffeine in a typical can of Mountain Dew, which is about 20% more than a can of Coke.
* The soda is colored by Tartrazine, also known as Yellow 5, which proved controversial for a while as it was falsely circulated that it lowered sperm count when consumed.
* The most controversial ingredient over the years proved to be the hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO). The ingredient was used to prevent the separation of the drink's various flavors, but is banned in most developed countries so in 2020 the ingredient was replaced.

## Promotions

* In 2004 Baja Blast was developed as a promotional deal with Taco Bell and proved to be highly successful, in 2014 the exclusivity deal ended and Baja Blast can be found outside of Taco Bell.
* DEWmocracy 1 (2007-2008) - Ginseng was in all formulas
	+ Revolution - Berry
	+ Supernova - Strawberry-melon
	+ Voltage - Citrus Blue Raspberry

* DEWmocracy 2 (2009-2010)
	+ Distortion - Key lime
	+ Typhoon - Tropical Punch
	+ White Out - Smooth citrus
* Game Fuel in 2007
* DEWcision 2016
	+ Pitch Black
	+ Baja Blast

## Addition of New Flavors

Current Main Line-up Flavors

* Code Red - 2001
* Live Wire - 2003
* Pitch Black - 2004
* Baja Blast - 2004
* Citrus Cherry - 2007
* Voltage - 2008
* Throwback - 2009
* White Out - 2010
* Major Melon - 2021

Store/Restaurant Exclusive Flavors

* Electric Apple - 2012 (Villa Pizza)
* Solar Flare - 2014 (7-11)
* Berry Monsoon - 2018 (Sam's Club)
* Sweet Lightning - 2019 (KFC)
* Maui Blast - 2014 (Dollar General)
* Spark - 2020 (Speedway)
* Atomic Blue - 2020 (Kum and Go & Sheetz)
* Southern Shock - 2020 (Bojangles)
* Frost Bite - 2020 (Walmart)

Discontinued Flavors

* Mountain Dew ICE - 2018-2020
* VooDew 2019 - Candy Corn
* VooDew 2020 - Skittles