If you're not a regular soda drinker, you may not have noticed that it’s been a while since Mountain Dew was actually Mountain Dew. Since 2009, the soda’s name has been abbreviated “Mtn Dew,” along with a logo featuring sharp angles, almost like a cartoon explosion. For years, the marketing strategy behind “Mtn Dew” has been to position the soda as an energy drink.
This will change next year when PepsiCo introduces a new logo featuring the soda’s full name. The logo, which was unveiled this week, will feature a background with (surprise, surprise) mountains, plus a river and evergreen forest in the foreground. The font will revert to a similar style to the one used by the brand in the 1990s, though with a softer and more three-dimensional typeface.
Discerning observers will also notice a leaf serving as the dot in the “i” in Mountain, as well as a yellow-and-green color scheme that is meant to evoke sunshine and summer. Overall, the idea is to show that Mountain Dew’s energy comes “from the outdoors,” according to PepsiCo’s chief design officer, Mauro Porcini.
PepsiCo is also reinvigorating the iconic “Do the Dew” slogan alongside a new, outdoorsy character clearly meant to appeal to younger consumers: the Mountain Dude, who encourages people to stop staring at their screens and get outside.
Recently, PepsiCo has faced declining demand in their North American market. Mountain Dew, which was acquired by PepsiCo in 1964 and is one of the conglomerate’s biggest brands, saw a 7% drop in sales in the first half of 2024, leading the company to rethink its marketing approach. Mountain Dew isn't the only soda that's struggling. "Traditional" soft drinks are facing stiff competition from up-and-coming rivals like Poppi and a slew of other beverages that present themselves as healthier options, including sparkling water.
Do the Dew (again):
- The new logo references Mountain Dew’s more rustic beginnings in 1940s Tennessee, where the soda was created by bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman as a mixer to compliment whiskey. The Mountain Dew name was trademarked in 1948, hence the “Est. 1948” in the new logo.
- The name Mountain Dew comes from a 19th-century term for single-malt Highland whisky. It was also used in Southern slang to describe moonshine.
- In the 1950s, the soda was advertised with the cartoon character “Willie the Hillbilly” and the slogan “It’ll tickle yore innards!”
