Abstract:

Most people signify Mountain Dew with images of teenagers on skateboards doing tricks or hearing the "Do the Dew" phrase. Mountain Dew was started in the early 1940s by Ally and Barney Hartman from Tennessee as a hard liquor mix. The name was derived from the Tennessee Mountain Moonshine. They were the first to use Applied Color Labels on their bottles containing a drawing of a hillbilly holding a rifle saying "by BARNEY and OLLIE," which was misspelled. Even though they were told the drink would never amount to anything, they took it to a trade show anyways, where it has well received. The label and drink were trademarked on November 12, 1948, a year before Barney died (Twoop, 2008). Mountain Dew has had many versions of their drink and slogans throughout the years but very few have endured the test as much as "Do the Dew" with the original lemon taste. If they are going to compete for the lion's share of the industry they need to step-up their focus to bring in new consumers.