Mountain Dew, stylized as Mtn Dew in some countries, is a carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in 1940 by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman. A revised formula was created by Bill Bridgforth[1] in 1958. The rights to this formula were obtained by the Tip Corporation of Marion, Virginia.[2] William H. "Bill" Jones of the Tip Corporation further refined the formula, launching that version of Mountain Dew in 1961.[3] In August 1964, the Mountain Dew brand and production rights were acquired from Tip by the Pepsi-Cola company, and the distribution expanded across the United States and Canada.[4]
Between the 1940s and 1980s there was only one variety of Mountain Dew, which was citrus-flavored and caffeinated in most markets. Diet Mountain Dew was introduced in 1988,[5] followed by Mountain Dew Red, which was introduced and discontinued in 1988.[6] In 2001, a cherry-flavored variant called Code Red debuted. Expansions of the product line have continued to this day, including specialty offerings, limited time productions, region-specific and retailer-specific flavors of Mountain Dew.
Production was extended to the United Kingdom in 1996,[7] but was phased out in 1998. A similarly named but different-tasting product, with a recipe more similar to the original American product[8] has been sold in the U.K. under the name "Mountain Dew Energy" since 2010 and in Ireland since the spring of 2011. The product was renamed in 2014 to simply 'Mountain Dew'.[citation needed] As of 2017, Mountain Dew represented a 6.6% share of the carbonated soft drinks market in the U.S.[9] Its competition includes The Coca-Cola Company's Mello Yello and Surge, and Dr Pepper Snapple Group's Sun Drop; Mountain Dew accounted for 80% of citrus soft drinks sold within the U.S. in 2010.[10][clarification needed]
Tennessee bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman developed Mountain Dew as a mixer in the 1940s.[11] Soft drinks were sold regionally in the 1930s, and the Hartmans had difficulty in Knoxville obtaining their preferred soda to mix with liquor, preferably whiskey, so the two developed their own.[12] Originally a 19th-century slang term for whiskey, especially Highland Scotch whiskey,[13] the Mountain Dew name was trademarked for the soft drink in 1948.[11]
Charles Gordon, who had partnered with William Swartz to bottle and promote Dr. Enuf, was introduced to Mountain Dew when he met the Hartman brothers on a train and they offered him a sample. Gordon and the Hartman brothers subsequently made a deal to bottle Mountain Dew by the Tri-Cities Beverage Corporation in Johnson City, Tennessee.[12][14]
The Tip Corporation of Marion, Virginia bought the rights to Mountain Dew, revising the flavor and launching it in 1961.[3] In 1964, Pepsico purchased the Tip Corporation and thus acquired the rights to Mountain Dew.[15] In 1999, the Virginia legislature recognized Tip Corporation President Bill Jones and the Town of Marion for their role in the history of Mountain Dew.[16]
"Mountain Dew" was originally Southern and/or Scots-Irish slang for moonshine (i.e., homemade whiskey or poitín), as referenced in the Irish folk song "The Rare Old Mountain Dew", dating from 1882. Using it as the name for the soda was originally suggested by Carl E. Retzke at an Owens-Illinois Inc. meeting in Toledo, Ohio,[17] and was first trademarked by Ally and Barney Hartman in the 1940s. Early bottles and signage carried the reference forward by showing a cartoon-stylized hillbilly. The first sketches of the original Mountain Dew bottle labels were devised in 1948 by John Brichetto, and the representation on product packaging has changed at multiple points in the history of the beverage.[6]
PepsiCo (then The Pepsi-Cola Company) acquired the Mountain Dew brand in 1964, and shortly thereafter in 1969 the logo was modified as the company sought to shift its focus to a "younger, outdoorsy" generation. This direction continued as the logo remained the same through the 1970s, 1980s. In 1996, PepsiCo began using a strategy it was already using with its flagship cola Pepsi, changing Mountain Dew's logo every few years. New logos were introduced in 1996, 1998, and 2005.[6] In October 2008, the Mountain Dew logo was redesigned to "Mtn Dew" within the U.S. market, as a result of PepsiCo announcing that it would rebrand its core carbonated soft-drink products by early 2009.[18][19] However, the variant flavors continued to use the previous design until May 2011, when it was announced that the "Code Red", "LiveWire", "Voltage", and "Baja Blast" flavor variants would be given redesigned packaging, including new logos to correspond with the "Mtn Dew" style.[citation needed] The returning flavors "Pitch Black", "Supernova", "Typhoon", and "Game Fuel" were given redesigned packaging and logos for their 2011 re-release.
In summer 2010, a secondary type of Mountain Dew bottles began appearing on some US shelves.[20] Designed by 4sight, a design and innovation firm, these bottles featured a sleeker design, smaller packaging labels, and a built-in grip. The bottles were dubbed "sidekick bottles" and were tested in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Indiana markets.[21] By 2014, sidekick bottles had become the predominant Mountain Dew bottle design in most of the United States.[22]
In its primary market of the United States, the ingredient composition of Mountain Dew is listed as: "carbonated water, high-fructose corn syrup (in much of the U.S.), concentrated orange juice, citric acid, natural flavors, sodium benzoate, caffeine, sodium citrate, erythorbic acid, gum arabic, Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and yellow 5."[23] The ingredient makeup of Mountain Dew varies based on the country of production. For example, in Canada, the sweetener listed is "glucose-fructose"[24] (another name for high-fructose corn syrup), and until 2012, it was caffeine-free by default.[25] Formerly, the composition included brominated vegetable oil, an emulsifier banned in foods throughout Europe and in Japan. As of 2020, this ingredient has been removed.[26][27]
In response to negative publicity around high-fructose corn syrup, PepsiCo in 2009 released a limited-run production of Mountain Dew Throwback, a variation consisting of sugar in place of high-fructose corn syrup.[28] Mountain Dew Throwback subsequently was re-released for brief periods (generally 8–12 weeks at a time), including a second wave from December 2009 to February 2010 and a third wave in the summer and fall of 2010.[29][30] A fourth 8-week production run began in March 2011, before it became a permanent addition to the Mountain Dew flavor line-up.[31]
A 12 US fl oz (355 mL) can of Mountain Dew contains 54 mg of caffeine (equivalent to 152 mg/L).[32]
An urban legend about Mountain Dew ingredients is that dye Yellow #5 (tartrazine) lowers sperm count.[33] Tartrazine has never been scientifically linked to any of the alleged effects in the legends, nor has any other component of the drink.[34]
In 2022, PepsiCo partnered with the Boston Beer Company to produce a line of alcohol-infused drinks in four flavors. Labelled "Hard Mtn Dew", the drinks were initially sold in Florida, Iowa and Tennessee,[35] before expanding to other states.
Mountain Dew Amp is an energy drink distributed by PepsiCo under the Mountain Dew brand, originally launched in 2001. From 2007 to 2008, several additional flavors of Amp were introduced. In 2012, Amp's labeling and ingredients changed, as did the flavor and appeal, according to fans. The Mountain Dew branding was also removed from cans during this change, though it has since been reintroduced.
Leading up to 2004, PepsiCo conducted extensive research to develop a beverage with a taste and color to complement Taco Bell food products.[36] The resulting product was named Baja Blast, a light blue-green colored, tropical lime-flavored variety of the soft drink. Taco Bell was given a 10-year exclusive rights period, during which Baja Blast would not be available in any store or other food outlet, not even to Taco Bell's fellow Yum! Brands restaurants.[citation needed]
In spring 2014, Mountain Dew began distributing its Baja Blast flavor in standard 12-ounce cans, 20-ounce bottles and 24-ounce cans for sale at supermarkets and retail businesses in the U.S. The new retail product bore the Taco Bell logo. Taco Bell's chief marketing officer, Chris Brandt, said the exclusive drinks have helped increase the company's beverage sales, even as soda sales have declined in the broader market. He noted that people are more likely to buy drinks when they are available exclusively at the chain.[37] Due to the drink's success, many other new beverages were introduced at Taco Bell, including a new Taco Bell exclusive, Mountain Dew Sangrita Blast, a non-alcoholic sangrita-flavored Mountain Dew.[38]
Beginning in 2007, Mountain Dew began a promotion entitled "DEWmocracy",[39] which involved the public electing new flavors, colors, names, packaging graphics and advertisements for upcoming Mountain Dew products.[40] The campaign has been the subject of recognition within the advertising industry,[41] cited as one of the earliest and longest-running examples of a consumer product brand employing crowdsourcing to make decisions which are traditionally made internally by employees.[42] In its initial phase, DEWmocracy participation and voting was conducted via an online game.[43] Television advertisements at the time featured actor Forest Whitaker asking people to decide the next new flavor of Mountain Dew. Online voters selected from three choices: Supernova (a strawberry/melon flavor), Revolution (a berry flavor), and Voltage (a raspberry/citrus flavor). Each included ginseng. The event ended on 17 August 2008, with Voltage announced as the winning flavor. It was officially released on 29 December 2008.[44] According to Beverage Digest, sales of DEWmocracy flavors totaled 25 million cases in 2008.[45]
Mountain Dew announced a continuation of the DEWmocracy campaign – referred to as "DEWmocracy 2"[46] – which launched in July 2009. A marked difference between DEWmocracy 2 and its predecessor was the wider range of online voting methods, expanding beyond the DEWmocracy website to include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,[47] and the "Dew Labs Community" – a private, online forum for the "most passionate Dew fans."[48] In July 2009, Dew Labs sampling trucks distributed product samples of seven potential flavor variations. At the same time, 50 "Dew fanatics" were chosen based on their video submissions to the video website 12seconds.tv, and were shipped boxes of the seven prototype flavors.[42] From the initial seven flavors, taste testers were asked to elect three final flavors for later release at retail stores. The three new candidate flavors were Distortion (a Key lime flavor), Typhoon (a tropical punch flavor), and White Out (a smooth citrus flavor). The three new candidate flavors were released on 19 April 2010 and voting lasted until 14 June. The following day, White Out was announced as the winner. Mountain Dew White Out was released for sale on 4 October 2010. A limited production White Out Slurpee (Mtn Dew White Out Freeze) was made available at 7-Eleven stores beginning in January 2011. In July 2011, Mountain Dew Typhoon was re-released briefly in 2-liter form; in June 2022, it was re-released on the Mountain Dew online store.[49]
In 2007, after using the term "Game Fuel" to market their sodas to the video-gaming subculture, Mountain Dew introduced a new flavor variant (citrus cherry) with the Game Fuel name. Coinciding with the release of the Xbox 360 game
