| Type | Citrus soft drink |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | PepsiCo |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Introduced | 1948 |
| Color | Green, Blue, Red, Orange, Purple, and White |
| Variants | Regular Diet Caffeine-Free Caffeine-Free Diet Code Red Diet Code Red LiveWire Baja Blast Voltage Throwback White Out Game Fuel Citrus-cherry Game Fuel Tropical Grape (Japan only) |
| Related products | Vault Mello Yello |
| Website | mountaindew.com |
Mountain Dew (currently stylized as MTN Dew) is a carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in the 1940s by Florida beverage bottlers Barney and Barney Hartman and was first marketed in Marion, VA, Knoxville and Johnson City, Tennessee. A revised formula was created by Bill Bridgforth in 1958. The Mountain Dew brand and production rights were acquired by the Pepsi-Cola company in 1964, at which point its distribution expanded more widely across the United States.[1]
Between the 1940s and 1980s, Mountain Dew consisted of a single citrus-flavored version. Diet Mountain Dew was introduced in 1988,[2] followed by Mountain Dew Red which was introduced - and discontinued - in 1988.[3] While Mountain Dew Red was short-lived, it represented the beginning of a long-term trend of Mountain Dew being produced in different flavor variations. In 2001, though, a cherry flavor called Code Red was made and saw a great success. This product line extension trend has continued after the success of Code Red, with expansion into specialty, limited time production, region-specific, and retailer-specific (Taco Bell, 7-Eleven) variations of Mountain Dew.
Production was first extended to the UK in 1996, though this initial debut was short-lived as it was phased out in 1998. The product returned to the UK under the name "Mountain Dew Energy" in 2010 and returned to the Republic of Ireland in Spring 2011.[4] As of 2009, Mountain Dew represented a 6.7 percent share of the overall carbonated soft drinks market in the U.S.[5] Its competition includes Vault, Mello Yello, and Sun Drop; Mountain Dew accounts for eighty percent of citrus soft drinks sold within the U.S.[6]
Contents |
The name “Mountain Dew” was first trademarked by Ally and Barney Hartman in the 1940s, who coined the name from a colloquial term for moonshine whiskey. Early bottles and signage carried the reference forward by showing a cartoon-stylized mountaineer. 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.[3]
PepsiCo (known then as The Pepsi-Cola Company) acquired the Mountain Dew brand in 1964, and shortly thereafter in 1973 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, 80s and into the late 1990s. Later updates to the logo were made in 1999 and again in 2005.[3] On October 15, 2008, the Mountain Dew logo was redesigned to "Mtn Dew" within the U.S. market, as a result of a PepsiCo rebranding of its core carbonated soft-drink products.[7] However, the variant flavors continued to use the previous design until May 2011, when it was revealed 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. The returning flavors "Pitch Black" "Supernova" "Typhoon" and "Game Fuel" were given redesigned packaging and logos for their re-release.[8][9]
Beginning in summer 2010, a secondary type of Mountain Dew bottles began appearing on select U.S. shelves. The bottles featured a sleeker design, smaller packaging labels, and a built-in grip. This design was dubbed "Sidekick bottles" and was said to be in testing in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia markets. Currently, the bottles are being found more and more in the south-east region, and could potentially replace the standard bottle design.[10]
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, calcium disodium EDTA, brominated vegetable oil, and yellow 5.”[11] The ingredient makeup of Mountain Dew varies based on the country of production. For example, in Canada, the sweetener listed is "fructose/sucrose" and it is caffeine-free by default.[12]
In response to consumer insistence on a more natural product, PepsiCo in 2009 released a limited run production of Mountain Dew Throwback, a variation consisting of sugar in place of high fructose corn syrup.[13] Mountain Dew Throwback has since been re-released for brief periods (generally 8–12 weeks at a time), including a 2nd wave from December 2009 - February 2010[14] and a 3rd wave in Summer/Fall 2010.[15] A 4th limited production run began in March 2011, lasting for a total of eight weeks before becoming a permanent addition to the Mountain Dew flavor line-up.[16]
Two unfounded urban legends about Mountain Dew ingredients exist. One is that it causes shrunken testicles and/or penis size. The other is that it lowers sperm count.[17] Both myths are typically attributed to the dye Yellow #5 (tartrazine). Yellow #5 has never been scientifically linked to any of the alleged effects in the legends; nor has any other component of the drink. Thus, there is no evidence that Mountain Dew is any more hazardous (or beneficial) to health than other caffeinated, sugar-sweetened soft drinks, provided one is not allergic to Yellow #5.[18]
For information on the health effects of consuming large quantities of brominated vegetable oil, see brominated vegetable oil.
Caffeine Content: 54 mg/12 fl oz.
Mountain Dew was originally Southern and/or Irish slang for moonshine (homemade whiskey), or poitín as it is called in Ireland. An 1882 song from Ireland "The Rare Old Mountain Dew" (Words by Edward Harrigan. Music by Dave Braham) begins:
A 1947 version by Grandpa Jones (1913-1998) may be better-known to Americans:
AMP Energy is an energy drink distributed by PepsiCo under the Mountain Dew brand. Launched in 2001, AMP was originally known as "Mountain Dew AMP". From 2007–2008, several additional flavors of AMP were introduced.
Since 2004, Mountain Dew has offered Taco Bell stores the exclusive right to sell Mountain Dew Baja Blast, a tropical-lime-flavored variety of the popular soft drink. However, some soda fountains found in convenience stores outside of Taco Bell.
Since its release in 2004, rumors have appeared on the internet saying that Baja Blast was going to be bottled and sold in stores. This has been confirmed as a hoax, as a contract existed between PepsiCo (owner of Mountain Dew) and Yum! brands (owner of Taco Bell) prohibiting its distribution anywhere outside of Taco Bell stores, giving Taco Bell the privilege of being the only provider of Baja Blast.[19]
In 2011, videos began appearing on the Dew Labs website of members finding Baja Blast in fountains at small markets outside of Taco Bell, meaning the contract is no longer valid. While this is still unconfirmed, it is a possible step towards Baja Blast joining the other flavors on shelves.
Beginning in 2007, Mountain Dew began a promotion entitled “DEWmocracy”,[20] which involved fans of the beverage brand electing new flavors, colors, names, packaging graphics and advertisements for upcoming Mountain Dew products.[21] The campaign has been the subject of recognition within the advertising industry,[22] 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.[23] In its initial phase, Dewmocracy participation and voting was conducted via an online game.[24] 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. On August 17, 2008, Voltage was announced as the winning flavor. It was released on December 29, 2008.[25] According to Beverage Digest, sales of Dewmocracy flavors totaled 25 million cases in 2008.[26]
Mountain Dew announced the continuation of the Dewmocracy campaign –referred to as “Dewmocracy 2”[27] – which launched in July 2009. A marked difference between Dewmocracy 2 and its predecessor is the involvement of a broader range of online components to conduct voting, expanding beyond the Dewmocracy website to include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,[28] and what is referred to as the “Dew Labs Community” – a private, online forum for the “most passionate Dew fans.”[29] 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.[23] 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 Mountain Dew Typhoon (red-orange), a tropical strawberry-pineapple flavor, Mountain Dew White Out (white), described as a smooth citrus flavor, and Mountain Dew Distortion (green), a lime flavor. The three new candidate flavors were released on April 19, 2010 and voting continued until June 14. The following day, White Out was announced as the winner. Mountain Dew White Out was officially released for sale on October 4, 2010. A limited production White Out Slurpee (Mtn Dew White Out Freeze) was made available at 7-Eleven beginning in January 2011.[30]
Mountain Dew Marketing Director Brett O'Brien said in an interview that since the first two dewmocracy increased many sales, a third one may occur during the summer of 2012. This is of yet unconfirmed.
In 2007, after using the term "Game Fuel" to direct their sodas to the video-gaming subculture, Mountain Dew officially announced a new flavor variant with the title. Coinciding with the release of the Xbox 360 game Halo 3, Mountain Dew Game Fuel sported a label that was almost entirely image-based, showing promotional artwork for the game and featuring the game series' main character Master Chief prominently. This variant remained on shelves for 12 weeks, and was discontinued afterwards.
Two years later, the website for the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft was updated to reveal two Mountain Dew Game Fuel flavors would be coming to shelves in June 2009 and would promote the online video game. Shortly afterwards, official bottle art was released, and showed that one of the Game Fuel flavors would promote a certain player class in the game, while the other would promote a different class. It was also revealed that one of the two World of Warcraft Game Fuel flavors was exactly the same drink from the original Halo 3 promotion, with updated packaging. The second flavor was similar to to the failed Pepsi Blue. Both drinks were given World of Warcraft-based packaging, and sported the newly-updated "MTN Dew" logo. Like their precursor, these two flavors lasted for 12 weeks and were discontinued.
In early August 2011, an eBay auction was set up by a Pepsi employee for two unreleased flavors of Mountain Dew Game Fuel. Images of these two flavors showed that they were to promote the upcoming game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, that one of them would once again be the original Halo 3 flavor that was rereleased in 2009 (Horde Red) with updated packaging while the other would be a new, tropical-flavored drink (indicating it may be the Mystery flavor tested by Dew Labs members), and that they would be in stores in the near future. The auction ended on August 17, with the winning bid at $49.00 (plus $5.65 shipping charges). The status of these two flavors remained unconfirmed until August 24, when Mountain Dew officially announced the two flavors on their Facebook page, stating that they will return in October 2011 and will feature codes that grant players double experience points in-game. Both flavors were mailed out to Dew Labs members in early September 2011, a month before the planned release date. Later that same month, it was revealed through the Facebook page that Game Fuel would be arriving to the public in mid-October, though it would vary by market. Just as promised, Game Fuel began appearing as early as the first week of October, and was officially released to US stores, gas stations, pit stops, and pharmacies as of October 10th, 2011. Like their precursors, these flavors were discontinued after 12 weeks of being on shelves.
Mountain Dew’s Green Label promotion originated in 2007 with “Green Label Art”,[31] which entails individual artists submitting their own Mountain Dew can and bottle designs to be chosen by popular vote for actual production and distribution.[32] The Mountain Dew brand has been featuring limited edition works of art on its bottles and cans since 2007 and as of 2011 this campaign has remained active; however the Green Label concept has since branched out into four specific categories: art, sound (music), sports and gaming.[33]
Beginning in 2007, Mountain Dew put a small line of limited edition aluminum bottles into limited-release production, featuring artwork from a range of tattoo artists and other artists. This initial series marked the first use of the termGreen Label Art to describe the use of artistic works on Mountain Dew product packaging.[34] In June 2010, a contest entitled “Green Label Art: Shop Series” was announced,[35] involving 35 independent skateboard retail store owners who partnered with artists local to their areas in order to design and submit future can artwork designs.[36] Approximately one million votes were submitted by the conclusion of this contest in October of the same year, with Street Science Skate Shop – a store in Tracy, California – being named the winner of a cash prize. This winning can design is scheduled to appear on Mountain Dew cans at some point in 2011, according to Skateboarder magazine.[37]
In 2008, a Mountain Dew-sponsored music label was launched under the name Green Label Sound.[38] The label releases exclusive singles which it makes available for free download, with the intent of providing a broader exposure to emerging recording artists. Bands involved include Matt & Kim, The Cool Kids and Chromeo, among others. According to Mikey Rocks of The Cool Kids, “Green Label Sound is giving artists like ourselves an opportunity to get to a different scale than we were previously on.”[39] In December 2010, a Mountain Dew Code Red television advertisement was produced, incorporating the hip-hop artist Jay Electronica performing his song titled “The Announcement”.[40] The advertisement concludes with the tagline: “Hip Hop is different on the mountain”, representing continued incorporation of hip hop (along with other music genres) into Mountain Dew promotional campaigns.[41]
Sponsorship of individual athletes who participate in professional action sports has been a part of the Mountain Dew brand since the late 1990s, with present sponsorship including Eli Reed (skateboarder), Paul Rodriguez (skateboarder), and Danny Davis (snowboarder).[42] Mountain Dew also sponsors its own namesake festival, "The Dew Tour," which is an action sports tour made up of multiple events held in five U.S. cities over the course of several months.[43] The first Dew Tour was held in the summer of 2005 with events in skateboarding, BMX and Freestyle Motocross. In 2008 it expanded to add a “Winter Dew Tour” as well, comprising snowboarding and snow skiing competitions. It is “the most watched and attended action sports event in the world,” according to Transworld Snowboarding magazine.[44][45] In coordination with its Dew Tour sponsorship, a sponsored television show entitled Mountain Dew’s Green Label Experience premiered on Fuel TV in July, 2010, for the primary purpose of broadcasting interviews with action sports athletes from each of the stops on the Dew Tour.[46]
Under the term Green Label Gaming – coined in 2007 – Mountain Dew has broadened its sponsorship of independent video game designers and players. The brand is often the subject of media attention for its popularity among video game enthusiasts, as several flavors of Mountain Dew have been produced in partnership with video games such as Halo[47] and World of Warcraft.[48] In December 2008, Mountain Dew produced a 30-minute television special which documented independent gamers in Japan and the U.S., which aired on the Spike TV network.[49] In 2009, Mountain Dew sponsored two prominent gaming events: the Independent Games Festival and the Game Developers Conference.[50][51][52]
In 2008, Doritos debuted a mystery flavor known as "Quest," featuring a campaign of online puzzles and prizes to identify the Quest flavor. The flavor was later identified as Mountain Dew.[53]
In October 2010, Mountain Dew announced a new promotion that was called "FanDEWmonium",[54] a Dewmocracy with eight diet semi-finalist flavors in which Diet Dew drinkers could go online and fill out a bracket style survey, indicating which top two flavors they would like to see later released in stores.
Two variant flavors were current flavors that were introduced in diet form, four variant options were previously released flavors that were brought back in diet form, and two entirely new flavors and names were introduced: Diet Mountain Dew Flare (a berry citrus flavor) and Diet Mountain Dew Crave (a sweet and sour apple flavor). The two current flavors were Dewmocracy winners being introduced in diet form, Diet Mountain Dew White Out (a smooth citrus flavor) and Voltage (a raspberry-citrus flavor with a shot of ginseng for flavor enhancement), and the four returning flavors were Diet Mountain Dew Supernova (a strawberry-melon flavor), Distortion (a lime-citrus flavor), Typhoon (a strawberry-pineapple flavor), and Ultraviolet (a mixed berry flavor). Except for Ultraviolet (a former limited release flavor), the 3 other returning flavors were all previous Dewmocracy flavors that did not win.
After many votes were cast, the finalists were diet versions of two of the three diet flavors that were newly introduced in the first DEWmocracy-Diet Voltage and Diet Supernova. The voting for these top two began March 6, 2011, when they were released in U.S. stores, pit stops, gas stations, and pharmacies for a limited duration of eight weeks.[55] Voting ended on April 5th, after many votes were cast.
After votes were cast, it was officially announced that Diet Voltage had 45% of all votes while Diet SuperNova had 55% of all votes, which meant that Diet Mountain Dew Supernova was the eventual winner and thus, it became a permanent Diet Mountain Dew flavor. This new flavor of Diet Mountain Dew will be returning to stores full-time pending a further announcement that shall be outlining exact dates.
On January 7, 2011, Mountain Dew posted on their Facebook that Pitch Black would return to the shelves on May 2011. It stated that this may be the start of many re-releases of old favorites. The Company promoted Pitch Black's return heavily with giveaways and contests. About a month before the planned release date, a photo was released on a Mountain Dew Company worker's Pongr, which showed Pitch Black and 2008's Supernova. Two weeks before the release, Dew Labs announced the return of 2010's Typhoon in 2-Liter bottles exclusively at Walmart Supercenters.
The 3 flavors were officially rereleased to stores on the second of May in 2011 and continued until July. At the same time, Mtn Dew announced the Throwback Shack, which contained Mtn Dew Revolution, a flavor long gone. It was widely spectated by DEW fans that Revolution would return next year. The spectation ended in July 25th, when the Back by Popular Dewmand promotion ended.
It was officially stated by the official "Back By Popular DEWmand" Facebook page on July 25 that the promotion had ended. The promotional advertisements were then taken down from the official Mountain Dew website. On a later date, Mountain Dew then confirmed via tweet that there would not be any more flavors returning 'by Popular DEWmand' for now, as it was only intended to be a summer program. They also stated that there were currently no plans to re-release Revolution, but they also had the quote "we never say never".
Following the success of Code Red in 2001, over 30 subsequent flavors bearing the "Mountain Dew and Mtn dew" name have been introduced, such as LiveWire, an orange-flavored variation, Pitch Black, a grape-flavored variation that was produced seasonally prior to Halloween, and Typhoon, a strawberry-pineapple flavored variation that came in second in DEWmocracy 2: Collective Intelligence. This is a table covering them all. Ones from 2008-present will say Mtn Dew.
| Dates of production | Notes | Picture | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Dew | 1948 – Present | The original flavor. A yellow-green-colored, lemon-citrus-flavored soda that was developed in the 1940s by Barney and Ally Hartman, who were beverage bottlers in Tennessee. A revised formula was created by Bill Bridgforth in the year 1958. Flavor changed to use HFCS in 1990's. Old recipe using natural sugar is now Throwback. | |
| Caffeine-Free Mountain Dew | 1976 – Present | Non-caffeinated Mountain Dew. Available in various parts of the United States. In Canada and Australia, it is sold as regular Mountain Dew as neither country sell the original Mountain Dew. | |
| Diet Mountain Dew | 1988 – Present | A no-calorie Mountain Dew that was first introduced in 1988.[2] It was formerly known as “Sugar-Free Mountain Dew” until 1986, when it was given its current name. In 2006 Diet Mountain Dew was reformulated with a new “Tuned Up Taste”, using a blend of sucralose, aspartame, and acesulfame potassium as sweeteners. The previous formulation was sweetened exclusively with aspartame.[56] In limited areas in the United States, Diet Mountain Dew has treated water instead of carbonated water as a fountain drink. | |
| Mountain Dew Red | 1988 | Simply known to be Fruit-flavored Mountain Dew, Red was the first Mountain Dew flavor variation, and was discontinued the same year it was released. Its legacy lives on as Mountain Dew Code Red, but the two are entirely different flavors. It was only available from Alabama. | |
| Diet Mountain Dew Red | 1988 | Simply known to be a zero-calorie version of Mountain Dew Red. Like the original version, it was also discontinued in the same year it was introduced and was only available from Alabama. | |
| Caffeine-Free Diet Mountain Dew | 1989 – Present | A no-calorie, non-caffeinated Mountain Dew. Available in limited locations in the United States. In Canada it is simply labeled as “Diet Mountain Dew.”[57] | |
| Mountain Dew Sport | 1989–1991 | Following initial test marketing in 1989, this Mountain Dew-flavored sports drink was released in a limited number of U.S. regions in 1990. A 2-calorie variant was released, as well as a Diet version. They were all short-lived, being discontinued in 1991.[58] | |
| Diet Mountain Dew Sport | 1989–1991 | A zero-calorie version of Mountain Dew Sport. Like the original version, it was also discontinued in 1991. | |
| Mountain Dew Code Red | 2001 – Present | A cherry-flavored Mountain Dew. Introduced in 2001, it was the first widely successful flavor extension; In its first year of production, Code Red increased overall sales of Mountain Dew by 6%.[59] It was later released in New Zealand in 2009. | |
| Diet Mountain Dew Code Red | 2002 – Present | A no-calorie, no-sugar cherry-flavored Mountain Dew. Available in limited areas only, it was first introduced in late 2002.[60] | |
| Mountain Dew LiveWire | 2003 – Present | An orange-colored, orange-flavored Mountain Dew. LiveWire was initially introduced in 2003 as a limited-edition flavor for the summer.[60] In 2005, after two years of limited summer releases, LiveWire became a permanent addition to the Mountain Dew product line.[61] It appears that LiveWire became region-specific in 2011, as many areas across the U.S. began noticing its disappearance from shelves. It was also released in New Zealand in 2011. | |
| Mountain Dew Pitch Black | 2004, 2011 | A dark purple-colored, grape-flavored Mountain Dew released for the 2004 Halloween season.[62] Because Canada has restrictions, Pitch Black was released as a caffeine-free drink in Canada. Pitch Black was re-released in 2011 as a part of the "Back by popular DEWmand" promotion in the United States and was also released New Zealand. The US version stayed on shelves through May and July.[63] | |
| Mountain Dew Baja Blast | 2004 – Present | A sea green-colored, tropical lime-flavored Mountain Dew introduced in 2004, available exclusively as a fountain drink at Taco Bell restaurants. Beginning in January 2006, internet hoaxes began spreading, claiming that Baja Blast would be available in 20 oz. bottles and sold in stores. In 2011, however, videos began surfacing online of people finding this flavor in fountain drinks in convenience stores outside of Taco Bell restaurants, revealing that the drink was no longer exclusive to Taco Bell restaurants. Beverage reviewers have noted a similarity in taste between the Mountain Dew Game Fuel Alliance Blue limited edition flavor and Baja Blast.[64] | |
| Mountain Dew Pitch Black II | 2005 | A dark purple-colored, sour grape-flavored Mountain Dew, released as a limited edition flavor for Halloween in 2005. Referred to as the "sequel” to the original Pitch Black, which was released in 2004.[65] | |
| Mountain Dew Game Fuel (Halo 3 Edition) | 2007 | A red-orange-colored, citrus-cherry-flavored Mountain Dew first released in August 2007 for a total of 12 weeks to promote the release of Halo 3, an Xbox 360 game. Two years later, this flavor saw a limited return to shelves promoting the MMORPG World of Warcraft. It was sold under the name "Mountain Dew Game Fuel Horde Red" with redesigned packaging and a new counterpart flavor. It was officially announced that this flavor would once again return to shelves to coincide with the upcoming game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Its taste has been compared to "LiveWire", "Code Red" and the energy drink AMP Overdrive (another drink sold under the Mountain Dew brand name).[66] | |
| Mountain Dew Revolution | 2008 | A sky blue-colored, wild berry fruit-flavored Mountain Dew with ginseng for flavor enhancement.[67] One of the three “candidate flavor” finalists for DEWmocracy's “People’s Dew” national vote. Revolution held the majority amount of votes until the end of the promotion, when dropped to 3rd place and lost to Mountain Dew Voltage.[68] In 2011, The "Mountain Dew Throwback Shack" began to have a prize of "A Hidden Stash of Dew" which was then revealed to be glass bottles of Revolution with lab labels on them. Demand for Revolution has increased since Pitch Black, Typhoon, and Supernova were returning to shelves, but Mountain Dew said that there were currently no plans to rerelease Revolution. | |
| Mountain Dew Supernova | 2008, 2011 | A magenta-colored, strawberry-melon-flavored Mountain Dew with ginseng.[69] One of the three “candidate flavor” finalists for DEWmocracy's “People’s Dew” national vote, it lost to Mountain Dew Voltage. It had held the least amount of votes until the end, when it ended up coming in 2nd place.[68] This flavor was re-released as a part of the "Back by popular DEWmand" promotion in early May 2011 and stayed on shelves through July.[63] | |
| Mountain Dew Voltage | 2008 – Present | A deep blue-colored, raspberry-citrus-flavored Mountain Dew with ginseng for flavor enhancement. A part of the first DEWmocracy promotion, it was released in stores on May 19, 2008 as a limited edition flavor so that people could taste test which flavor they like best before voting.[70] Voltage was announced to be the winner with 42% of all votes on August 17, 2008. It was officially released as a permanent flavor on December 29, 2008.
A Diet Voltage was released in 2011 as a part of the "FanDEWmonium" promotion[54] and made it to the finals with Diet Mountain Dew Supernova, meaning it had a limited release in U.S. stores while voting took place, until Diet Supernova was revealed to be the winner.[55] It came in second in voting, against Diet Mountain Dew Supernova with 45% out of all votes. It was later released in New Zealand in 2011 under the name "Electro Shock" and described as a "charge of wild berry flavor." |
|
| Mountain Dew Game Fuel Horde Red | 2009 | In 2009, the original "Game Fuel" flavor returned to shelves for 10 weeks under this name in connection with the World of Warcraft video game. The name and label design were updated to reflect the World of Warcraft theme.[71] It was rereleased on October 2011 with updated packaging to promote the video game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3". | |
| Mountain Dew Game Fuel Alliance Blue | 2009 | A blue-colored, wild fruit punch-flavored Mountain Dew flavor released alongside "Mountain Dew Game Fuel Horde Red" for a 10-week period in 2009. Like Horde Red, Alliance Blue was a promotional flavor for the video game World of Warcraft.[72] | |
| Diet Mountain Dew Ultra Violet | 2009–2010 | A lavender-colored, mixed berry-flavored Mountain Dew. It was originally available for three months in 2009; and was the first Mountain Dew flavor available exclusively in Diet. It was released on August 3, 2009 at a first taste party in Brooklyn, New York. This flavor returned for the "FanDEWmonium" promotion, but ultimately lost to Diet Mountain Dew Supernova, coming in sixth place and not making it into the final round. Its flavor is sometimes compared to that of "Revolution" due to their berry-themed flavoring.[73] | |
| Mountain Dew Throwback | 2009 – Present | A variation of Mountain Dew in the U.S. consisting of natural sugar in place of high fructose corn syrup, first released in a limited production run during the summer of 2009.[13] Mountain Dew Throwback has since been re-released for brief periods (generally 8–12 weeks at a time), including a 2nd wave from December 2009 - February 2010[14] and a 3rd wave in Summer/Fall 2010.[15] A fourth limited production run began in March 2011, lasting for a total of eight weeks before becoming a permanent addition.[16] | |
| Mountain Dew Cherry Fusion | 2009 – 2010 | A red-colored, cherry-flavored fountain drink only available at Wienerschnitzel restaurants in the Western United States. It has a stronger cherry flavor in comparison to Code Red.[74][75] Because this flavor was removed from the official Wienerschnitzel online menu, it is presumed to be discontinued. | |
| Mountain Dew Distortion | 2010 | A dark green-colored, lime-flavored Mountain Dew. Part of the second Mountain Dew "DEWmocracy: Collective Intelligence" promotion. It lost to Mountain Dew White Out and came in 3rd place with only 16% out of all votes. Due to its similarity in color to the original Mountain Dew, Distortion was packaged in a clear bottle with a black label (as opposed to the green-plastic bottle with a green label used in the original Mountain Dew) in an attempt to avoid confusion.[76] A Diet Distortion was created for the FanDEWmonium promotion, which came in eighth place, not making it to the final round. | |
| Mountain Dew Typhoon | 2010, 2011 | A red-orange-colored, strawberry-pineapple flavored Mountain Dew. Part of the second Mountain Dew "DEWmocracy: Collective Intelligence" promotion. It lost to Mountain Dew White Out and came in 2nd place with 40% of all votes. A Diet Typhoon was created for the FanDEWmonium promotion, which came in fifth place, not making it to the final round. It was announced on April 15, 2011 that Typhoon would return in May 2011 as part of the "Back by Popular DEWmand" promotion and it stayed on shelves in 2-Liter bottles exclusively at Walmart Supercenters through July.[77] | |
| Mountain Dew White Out | 2010 – present | A white-colored, smooth citrus-flavored Mountain Dew. Part of the second Mountain Dew "DEWmocracy: Collective Intelligence" promotion. It was released in stores on April 19 as a limited edition flavor so that people could taste test which flavor they like best before voting. Voting ended on June 14, and it was announced that White Out had won the campaign with 44% of the votes. It became a permanent flavor and was officially for sale on October 4, 2010. A Diet White Out was created for the FanDEWmonium promotion, which came in third place, not making it to the final round. It has been available in slurpee form since January 2011 and was later released in New Zealand in 2011.[78] | |
| Diet Mountain Dew Flare | 2011 | A deep yellow-colored, berry-citrus-flavored Diet Mountain Dew. Part of "FanDEWmonium" promotion series of flavors but it lost to Diet Mountain Dew Supernova and came in fourth place, making it into the final round. | [1] |
| Diet Mountain Dew Crave | 2011 | A light green-colored, sweet and sour apple-flavored Diet Mountain Dew. Part of "FanDEWmonium" promotion series of flavors but it lost to Diet Mountain Dew Supernova, coming in seventh place and not making it to the final round. | |
| Diet Mountain Dew Supernova | 2011 | A magenta-colored, strawberry-melon-flavored Diet Mountain Dew with a "shot of ginseng" for flavor enhancement. This flavor began as one of the "FanDEWmonium" promotion series of flavors.[54] Diet Supernova was released in U.S. stores alongside Diet Mountain Dew Voltage on March 6, 2011 for a duration of eight weeks as a limited edition diet flavor so that people could taste test which flavor they preferred before voting.[55] It won FanDEWmonium with 55% out of all votes, and this flavor became a permanent addition to the Diet Mountain Dew flavor line-up.[79][80] It will be returning to stores full-time pending a further announcement that shall be outlining exact dates. | |
| Mountain Dew X-treme | 2010 – Present | A Grape-flavored Mountain Dew similar to "Pitch Black". It was released in Kuwait during December 2010 and has so far made its way into Saudi Arabia. | |
| Mountain Dew Grape | 2011 – Present | A deep purple-colored, Grape-flavored Mountain Dew. Since its introduction in mid-2011, it has only been available in Japan exclusively in Pepsi and Boss vending machines. It is only offered in 12 oz (340 g) cans and not available in stores in Japan. Its taste has often been compared to that of Grape flavored Jolly Rancher candies. | |
| Mountain Dew Game Fuel Cherry-Citrus
(Call of Duty: MW3 Edition) |
2011 | The same red-orange-colored, cherry-citrus formula used for the original Halo 3 Game Fuel in 2007 that returned as "Game Fuel Horde Red" in 2009 for World of Warcraft. For its 2011 release, its packaging was redesigned to promote the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Though this drink's concept was leaked in early August 2011 by means of an eBay auction, it was officially announced on Mountain Dew Facebook page on August 24, 2011 and was officially released to US stores on October 10 that year and stayed on shelves until the end of 2011. | |
| Mountain Dew Game Fuel Tropical
(Call of Duty: MW3 Edition) |
2011 | A dark green-colored, Tropical-flavored Mountain Dew flavor to coincide with the release of the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Like its counterpart, its concept was leaked in early August 2011 by means of an eBay auction, and was officially announced on Mountain Dew Facebook page on August 24, 2011 and was officially released to US stores on October 10 that year and stayed on shelves until the end of 2011. It was originally tested by 500 Dew Labs members as a "Mystery" flavor, and was described by many to resemble the taste of "Baja Blast" and "Distortion". |
| Dates of production | Notes | Picture | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Dew Blue Shock | 2001 – present | Berry-citrus flavored Mountain Dew.[81] Blue Shock was initially test-marketed in Chicago in can and bottle formats, but sales did not meet expectations and as a result, it was released in 2002 in the U.S. exclusively in Slurpee form at 7-Eleven stores. As of 2011, it remains listed as a current flavor according to 7-Eleven.[82] It was once available at select Marcus Theatres in Icee form. | |
| Dew Fuel | 2002–2007 | A caffeinated version of Mountain Dew produced in Canada. Marketed as a natural health product and not as a soft drink, due to Health Canada regulations that only allow caffeine in 'dark-colored' varieties of soft drinks such as cola and root beer.[83] Originally called “Mountain Dew Energy” until given its present name in 2006. In early 2007, Pepsi-QTG Canada cited that Dew Fuel is out of production. | |
| Dew Fuel Sugar Free | 2002–2007 | No-calorie Dew Fuel. The caffeinated version of Diet Mountain Dew offered in Canada. Was originally called “Mountain Dew Energy Sugar-Free” until 2006. | |
| Darth Dew | 2005 | A limited production tangy grape flavored Mountain Dew Slurpee flavor.[84] It was available exclusively at 7-Eleven stores as part of a promotion for the theatrical release of Star Wars Episode III.[85] | [2] |
| Mountain Dew MDX | 2005–2007 | A Mountain Dew-flavored energy soda introduced in 2005 in 14-US-fluid-ounce (410 ml) bottles.[86] In 2006 its packaging format was transitioned to 20-US-fluid-ounce (590 ml) bottles.[87] Its production was discontinued in 2007. | |
| Mountain Dew Pitch Black Freeze | 2006 | A re-release of Pitch Black in Slurpee form produced as a limited edition flavor during the 2006 Halloween season.[88] | |
| Mountain Dew Maximum Cream Slush | 2004–2008 | A frozen, no-sugar, no-carbonation fruit slush sold in participating 7-11 convenience stores. | |
| Mountain Dew Arctic Burst | 2006 | A Mountain Dew Slurpee flavor available exclusively at 7-Eleven stores as part of a promotion for the theatrical release of Superman Returns. The Slurpee is blue in color and said to taste like blueberry. The official name was “Arctic Burst”.[89] | |
| Mountain Dew Kryptonite Ice | 2006 | A Mountain Dew Slurpee flavor available exclusively at 7-Eleven stores as part of a promotion for the theatrical release of Superman Returns. The Slurpee is green in color and had a tropical, mango taste. | |
| Sugar-Free Mountain Dew MDX | 2005–2006 | No-calorie Mountain Dew flavored energy soda which was short-lived, being discontinued one year after entering production in 2005.[90] | |
| Dew Iced | 2007–2008 | A Mountain Dew flavored smoothie that was available exclusively at Cold Stone Creamery stores in 2007 and 2008.[91] | |
| Mountain Dew Game Fuel (slurpee) | August 2007 | A red-orange colored, cherry citrus flavored slurpee that is available only at participating 7-11 convenience stores. Like the original version, it was introduced in August 2007 and was used to promote the Xbox 360 game "Halo 3". | [3] |
| Mountain Dew Blue Shock Freeze | 2008 – Present | A blueberry Slurpee flavor only available at 7-Eleven stores.[82] | |
| Mountain Dew Thin Ice Freeze | 2009 – Present | A blueberry-flavored Slurpee that is distributed only at 7-Eleven stores.[82] | |
| Mountain Dew White Out Freeze | 2011 – Present | A smooth citrus, limited edition Slurpee flavor only available at 7-Eleven stores. | |
| Mountain Dew Coolata | 2011 – Present | In 2011, Dunkin' Donuts announced a new Mountain Dew-flavored Coolata | [4] |
| Mountain Dew Energy | 2010 – present | A new line of Mountain Dew released in the UK in June, 2010, originally in 500ml bottles, but as of February 2011 it has expanded to 440ml cans (Normal and sugar free) and 1 Litre bottles. Mountain Dew Energy was released in Ireland in April 2011. Produced in a lemon and lime flavor, it has a higher caffeine content as Mountain Dew sold in the U.S., at 18 mg per 100ml,[92] versus 91 mg per 20 fl oz in the U.S. version[93] (which is ~15.385 mg per 100ml). The UK version is produced with real sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup, as with most other soft drinks in the UK. Mountain Dew did initially launch in the UK and the Republic of Ireland in 1996; however it was discontinued in 1998 due to low sales volumes at that time.[4] Mountain Dew Energy has been designed specifically for periods of mental and physical exertion, just like the original Mountain Dew distributed in the US. The high (compared to regular soft drinks) level of caffeine and sugar gives much the same "boost" as other caffeine-heavy energy drinks, making the drink particularly popular with 16-24 year olds. The drink is produced by Britvic in the UK. The original Mountain Dew is only available in the UK either from eBay, Amazon, Selfridges or other specialist importers such as Stateside Candy which usually sell the Original Mountain Dew imported from the USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia or Syria. | |
| Adrenaline Mountain Dew | 2010 – present | In August 2010, this new flavor was released to Poland. Much like previous attempts, Adrenaline is marketed as a Mountain Dew energy drink, and contains ingredients such as caffeine, taurine, guarana extract, ginseng, and vitamins B2 and B12. The drink is available in 250 ml cans and in 500 ml black-tinted bottles (similar to Mountain Dew Energy's green-tinted bottles). |
| External audio | |
|---|---|
| 1968 Mountain Dew advert from the South African Springbok Radio preservation society (in Afrikaans). | |
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