In 1995, Mountain Dew became the first sponsor of, what is now known as, the X Games. The brand’s legendary slogan “Do the Dew” was more than just a slogan, it represented the attitude of their loyal Dew drinkers who wanted to push the boundaries in sports and in culture.
>> RELATED: Read more about the History of Mountain Dew
Beginning in the early 20th century, Mountain Dew ended up being the fourth best-selling soft drink in the United States, becoming a hard competitor in the beverage world. The Coca-Cola corporation soon realized that they needed to create a drink that could compete with Mountain Dew. The company soon released a drink they called “Mello Yello.” Soon after its introduction, Mello Yello saw no significant gain in the market share. Coca-Cola then tried again with the creation of “Surge.” Striking out again, Surge also was pulled from the marketplace. It was evident that brand was unstoppable. During the 50 years that Pepsi-Cola owned Mountain Dew, none of their competitors had been able to beat them. Mountain Dew always dominated in their market.
Prior to 2000, extensions to the Mountain Dew brand were extremely rare. With the new millennium, consumers wanted options, so Mountain Dew decided to give its customers what they wanted. The first of the line extensions occurred in 2001 and one of their major hits was Mountain Dew Code Red. With the release of their new flavor extensions, some became “limited time” beverages and some became so popular the continue to be a part of the Mountain Dew portfolio today.
Around this era, energy drinks began to gain momentum. Mountain Dew knew they had to keep up with the trends, so in 2001, Mountain Dew Amp Energy drink was born! The Mountain Dew brand has always had a strong love for sports, and they decided to make NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. a spokesperson for Amp in 2007. In addition, Amp became a sponsor for Earnhardt’s NASCAR stock car. Not too long after, Amp was removed from the Mountain Dew group and became its own entity, Amp Energy Drink. Earnhardt decided to keep his loyalty with the Mountain Dew brand and signed on with Diet Mountain Dew.
Check out our next blog in the series that shows how Mountain Dew tackled the uprise of the internet and social media!
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