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03/08/2006: The Times Square Diet Mountain Dew Party!

As I walked out the door this morning, something told me to go back inside and grab my camera.  I used to carry it with me at all times, and the fact that I’ve fallen off that wagon has bit me on the ass far too often lately.  I wasn’t sure why the imps that live inside me created such a sense of camera-urgency today, but once I got near my building, it all made sense: The biggest Mountain Dew party in the history of Mountain Dew parties.

The reason for the celebration?  The new “tuned up taste” of Diet Mountain Dew, a brand that evidently was not championed by many and has existed for years as-was despite clear indications that it needed to be reformulated.  Friends, the day has come.  Diet Mountain Dew has been reformulated.  How?  No idea.  I’ve never had original Diet Mountain Dew.  I’ve never had a passing interest in trying Diet Mountain Dew.  Still, if anything could inspire me to change my soda style, it’s the sight of Dew-drenched snowboarders gliding down a 40’ hill of snow in the middle of Times Square.

The first sign that things were not normal was the group of happy folks in green sweatshirts handing out cans of Diet Mountain Dew.  Sample-givers are a Times Square morning staple, but as I gleefully pocketed two cans and brought my attention back to Mr. Cigarette…there it was.  A construction shaped like a gigantic arcade basketball hoop game, covered with snow and Dew signage, and overflowing with snowboarders who knew how to take it to the extreme.  It’s bad form to look like a tourist in front of potential coworkers, but there was no way I wasn’t going to photograph this.

It went deeper than that.  Giant signs!  Dew-adorned race cars!  Inflatable Diet Mountain Dew cans as tall as houses!  It’s likely that a good 60 billion cans of Diet Mountain Dew were passed out to willing samplers, and even by late afternoon, the festivities were still rolling along. All in the name of a (revised) soda. The crowd absolutely ate it up, so much so that I swear on Christ’s soul that I heard an audible “DEW, DEW, DEW” chant as I walked to the bus after work.

Aside from all that, today was been pretty boring. I wish sodas threw parties outside my building everyday.

And as for the drink? Bleh.



(click pics to enlarge)


Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

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Discussion Thread: 100 comments

It’s amazing that you can see this kind of stuff on a smoke break. It’s so exotic.

Ghosted by squee4242 @ 03/08/2006 11:46 PM EST

The only free sample I got today was a Jesus-themed pamphlet from a hobo in the subway station. I’m slightly jealous.

Ghosted by Lizzy @ 03/08/2006 11:55 PM EST

Wow, the cans are even customized. I wonder how many other places had Mountain Dew parties today.

Ghosted by squee4242 @ 03/09/2006 12:05 PM EST

Is the idea of this revision to taste more like regular Mountain Dew? That’s what these usually seem to be. Just to be sure we get this out of the way and are able to move on, I’ll acknowledge for the board as a whole "Homer Simpson vs. the City of New York" and all the Mountain Dew/bad taste connections thereof implied. Now that that’s done, I’m sorely confused as to why anyone would make an authentic-tasting diet version of Mountain Dew. Diet makes me think that it’s intended for people who at least think that it won’t ruin their bodies utterly, while the term "Mountain Dew" strongly contradicts this.

Ghosted by Tougi @ 03/09/2006 12:06 PM EST

Also, children are starving. How much did this cost?

Ghosted by Tougi @ 03/09/2006 12:07 PM EST

I just noticed that I have the "Tuned Up Taste" Diet Mountain Dew in my room and had one today. I tasted NO difference in flavor. To me, it’s like when Mr. Pibb all of a sudden became Mr. Pibb Xtra and had no difference in taste either. Doesn’t matter cause I love Diet Mountain Dew (along with Diet Dr. Pepper).

Also, I bought a 20oz soda bottle of something called Vault today. Haven’t tried it yet. Wonder if it tastes liked Mountain Dew’s MDX energy soda, which also tasted the same as regular MD. Also didn’t give me energy.

Ghosted by JLAJRC @ 03/09/2006 12:15 PM EST

Mountain Dew is the best soda in the history of mankind. As for diet Mt. Dew? Never tried it either.

Ghosted by Gozer @ 03/09/2006 1:22 AM EST

Remember: the Dew-swillers take it to the EXTREME!!! Nothin’s more intense than SLAMMIN’ A DEW!!! If you don’t got Dew, you’re NOTHING!!

It’s been an effective marketing campaign for over a decade now to bill Mountain Dew as "screaming outrageous." I say effective because when one thinks about it, "Mountain Dew" is the sissiest-sounding name of any soft drink out there.

Though it might be more effective to actually advertise that Mountain Dew is a contraceptive. There are teens that still believe that, and we have a lenient ad regulations board….

Ghosted by Mars @ 03/09/2006 1:26 AM EST

Matt you’re great; you build me up with all the greatness of floats, snowboarders, and race cars, then the REVIEW….bleh. I give you mad props. You tell it as it really is.

Ghosted by super_dex @ 03/09/2006 2:14 AM EST

A Diet Mountain Dew? How Dew they do it? Okay, that was terrible.

I used to get excited about the new variations of drinks, but they often disappoint me. They either taste like medicine or they just make me want to drink the original. But, throwing a party for a drink should make it a little more enjoyable.

Ghosted by Dr. Acula @ 03/09/2006 5:30 AM EST

Does anyone else remember Mt Dew Sport from the early early 90’s? It was only around for a year or two. I think they were trying to jump on the Gatorade bandwagon. It seemed like a mix between Gatorade lemon and MD. I drank alot of it. It was in the vending machine at my elementary school.
Completely unrelated, my son is at work with me today (pinkeye-sitting in the stock room with a bean bag and Monsters Inc.) I just found him with a empty bottle of sprinkles that was left over from Christmas. When he looked at me and knew he was caught, he just said "Sprinkles!!!!!"

Ghosted by kb @ 03/09/2006 8:02 AM EST

Wow- All I saw on the way to work was a garbage can that had blown into the street…damn winter.

I’m very jealous, Matt.

Oh well, at least I get to do this at school today while my students work on a webquest!

Ghosted by Muppet Baby @ 03/09/2006 8:31 AM EST

A party in the name of soda rules, but Diet is always icky. What’s the point really. If the original soda is going to kill me someday, i’m far past that point… so bring it on.

Ghosted by Mattman @ 03/09/2006 8:47 AM EST

Did you know Mountain Dew was a name for moonshine? Pretty awesome looking party. They should have another one for Pitch Black III with a haunted house and spooky monsters handing out the soda, NOT red-head kids that think it’s really cool to sit in the dark. It’s weird to think about places that are still cold out. In Texas it’s like 88 degrees these days, but the way people in New York are dressed, it still seems like it’s all Christmassy.

Ghosted by Eddie Lightning Frog @ 03/09/2006 8:59 AM EST

The only thing I want to know is what role this plays in the current cola war between Diet Coke and Diet cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper. Could it be that Diet mountain dew is announcing it’s intentions to join the soda makers’ battlefield?…Judging from the gnarly snowboarders, I would say a big fat yes to that.

Ghosted by TC Falcon @ 03/09/2006 9:14 AM EST

Diet Mt Dew was was of the few diet sodas I could stomach. I hope they didn’t fuck it up too badly.

Ghosted by ZiZak @ 03/09/2006 9:20 AM EST

"Also, children are starving. How much did this cost?"
That’s one of the first things I thought too. I think it’s a sure sign of getting old and [shudder] responsible.

Clearly I don’t understand the power of Times Square. If I had a company, blowing that kind of dough on a promotional party that wouldn’t be seen or heard of by anyone except the people who passed through the area (unless, of course, one of them had a digital camera and a popular website) wouldn’t seem like a wise way to spend the money. Still, all things considered, I want one of those mylar balloons (a lot more than I want the soda, by the way.)

Ghosted by Lori @ 03/09/2006 9:27 AM EST

I thought I wanted to live out my days in Iowa, but now I know Times Square’s where it’s at.

Ghosted by Shii @ 03/09/2006 9:57 AM EST

You walked right into a TV commercial. I like to think that as soon as you reached the crowd, you started moshing along with everyone else, and that Lauren Hill was singing or something.

Ghosted by Jessica Marie @ 03/09/2006 10:17 AM EST

I simply detest all Mountain Dew sodas.

I’ll stick with Crab Juice, thank you very much.

Ghosted by Invader Norbert @ 03/09/2006 10:17 AM EST

I think it’s just a new marketing campaign like I said above. I didn’t taste any difference in flavor.

I love MD, especially the Code Reds (Livewire I can live without).

Anyone tried Vault? What’s it like? MDX-like?

Ghosted by JLAJRC @ 03/09/2006 10:37 AM EST

The grocery stores around here are giving away 4 packs for free. All you gotta pay for is tax and deposit.

My little brother is a soda-hound so he’s stocked up with enough diet dew to bathe in it daily.

Ghosted by Jeff Mack @ 03/09/2006 11:07 AM EST

EXTREME MEGA-AMPED DIET SPORT GIANT APE JUICE! IN YOUR FACE!

Ghosted by kingklash @ 03/09/2006 11:58 AM EST

Q: Why is mountain dew yellow?

A: Bears.

I walk nearly a mile to work, and all I get to see are severely flattened squirrels and Texans who have no idea how they’re supposed to react to somebody walking down the side of the street. That’s it, I’m moving someplace that has something approaching a pedestrian culture. Also something approaching culture. Also something approaching a winter season. Also smarter squirrels.

Ghosted by Jedoc @ 03/09/2006 12:14 PM EST

Jessica Marie–that may be one of the funniest things I’ve seen all day

I’ve never had a Diet Soda I didn’t like. Diet MD is passable.

Ghosted by mtrox @ 03/09/2006 12:24 PM EST

Whoa. I won’t be going to work until later, but I’ll bet there won’t be anything like that going on at the Acme unless the computers are still down and the customers started rioting.

I’m not overly fond of diet soda…unless it’s free or 4 cans for 50 cents at the Acme (grocery store). You’ll stomach just about anything for that price.

Ghosted by starwenn @ 03/09/2006 12:46 PM EST

Hey Matt,
I got a free sample of the Mountain Dew yesterday too! I commute from Long Island into Penn and there they were hawking them on everyone who came out of the station. I hate Mountain Dew, dont’ drink it and the idea of a diet one disgusts me…but I picked up a free can…and later on the way BACK to Penn after work, I got a free can of Monster energy drink. Must’ve been canned samples day in NYC…

Ghosted by Melissa Y. @ 03/09/2006 12:55 PM EST

I heard that Mountain Dew is different in Canada compared to the USA. One country’s Mountain Dew is like, 12% caffeine, and the other’s is caffeine free…but I can’t remember which is which.

Ghosted by Muppet Baby @ 03/09/2006 1:00 PM EST

I have never been a Mountain Dew (or Mello Yello) fan. Can’t get past the color, not to mention the vague citrusy taste. For some reason when I think of those two sodas, I think of Chernobyl. BTW, Matt, just read your Kamala article. According to local legend, the Undertaker graduated from my high school (WAY before I did, of course). Not sure how true that is, cos he’s from TX and I’m from Mobile, AL. It’s a Catholic high school, so that might explain a lot, if it’s true.

Ghosted by violetdied @ 03/09/2006 1:36 PM EST

I would just like to add HOORAY FOR EASTER! cos my friend just gave me my first PEEPS of the season–purple chicks. Yum. I like to bite their heads off.

Ghosted by violetdied @ 03/09/2006 1:39 PM EST

Jedoc I totally hear you on the pedestrian thing. Whenever I walk here as means of getting somewhere, someone ALWAYS stops and asks if I’m okay and if I need a ride. Cause the idea of walking on purpose is absurd I guess. It’s usually middle aged soccer moms, they worry alot.

Ghosted by kb @ 03/09/2006 2:55 PM EST

Diet Dew is close to the same level that Diet Dr Pepper is on. I like it.

Ghosted by Fox @ 03/09/2006 2:59 PM EST

Matt sees this as a chance to write a good blog article, I see it as more effin’ tourists assing up my morning commute.

Diet Dew tastes even worse warm. I guess that’s why they gave me a free 6 of it in front of the train station. It is, however, still a better give away that Fisherman’s Friend.

Ghosted by LemurCat @ 03/09/2006 4:14 PM EST

Just about any drink that’s marketed as X-TREME doesn’t appeal to me taste-wise, and Mountain Dew is no exception. Even the non-diet MD has always tasted artificial to me.

Ghosted by Skroob @ 03/09/2006 4:15 PM EST

JLAJRC

The "Vault" soda is nothing more than renamed "Surge". Loved the stuff when it was being made. I chalk it up to it going away because everyone liked it. (Well everyone I knew)

Anybody else notice that companies put out really good "New" items, get people to love them only to have them disappear never to be seen again?

Ghosted by Wenthral @ 03/09/2006 4:39 PM EST

Vault is pretty delicious, similar to surge, only a little less sugary. Diet Vault is crisp and refreshing.

Quite possibly my new favorite soda. And Vault and Vodka is a damn fine drink.

Ghosted by Bob @ 03/09/2006 5:13 PM EST

They gave away Diet MD outside of my university’s student center yesterday. No snowboarders or anything cool like that, but there was a big MD truck and a middle aged lady with a bright green "Do the Dew" sweatshirt on. The only other MD person there appeared to be her highschool aged daughter. Nothing says extreme soda like a mother-daughter team in matching green sweatshirts.

I didn’t get any b/c I don’t like soda, but the mother-daughter pair get brownie points for me for taking ‘no’ as an answer and not forcing their goods on me.

Ghosted by Karen @ 03/09/2006 5:20 PM EST

Wenthral: I’ve noticed that too, ESPECIALLY in the candy aisle lately. Reeses Caramel PB Cups, Strawberry and milkshake flavored Kit-Kats, PB Take 5, lots of new gums, etc.

Most of them do say "Limited Edition" but I find some of them good enough to stick around.

BTW, you just know someone is going to put one of those MD cans on EBay claiming its a "Limited Edition New York style can." Make alot of money too. Ever been to an antique shop that sells out-of-date food/drinks because it has something like Star Wars on it? Heck, a few times I’ve run into Superman Peanut Butter and Bread packages from the 70s.

Ghosted by JLAJRC @ 03/09/2006 5:23 PM EST

Free Mountain Dew?! 11! Lucky oh I want to be yooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuu

Ghosted by Reid @ 03/09/2006 5:35 PM EST

Grrr… someone stole the case of Diet Mountain Dew out of my car the other day. I got one of those 12-packs of 12oz bottles for work. I took 3 in on Saturday and Monday when I reached over to my passenger seat to grab a few more, the case was GONE. I looked all over for it. The weird thing was all my CDs and everything were still sitting in my car. But my Diet Mt Dew was gone. ;.;

Ghosted by Mystie @ 03/09/2006 6:34 PM EST

You know, I get those "go back and get X object" urges all the time when I’m going out. Sadly, I never listen to them and I always end up regretting it. You’d think I’d learn after so many times…

Yeah, I have nothing to say about Mountian Dew.

Ghosted by TE-Ryan @ 03/09/2006 6:54 PM EST

As someone who actually did like the old Diet Mountain Dew, nay LOVED the old DMD to the point that an intervention was looming, I have to say this new stuff tastes terrible. Why change it? Why not introduce it as a new product like Mountain Dew Zero or Mountain Dew Leprechaun Pee? Nuh uh…I’m not having it. I say Screw The Dew!

Ghosted by Jeremy @ 03/09/2006 9:08 PM EST

Bob:

Vault and vodka, huh?
If it’s Polish Vodka, would one call it a "Pole Vault"?

Dibs on the copywright!

Ghosted by Thorzuul @ 03/09/2006 9:10 PM EST

A can of Mountain Dew? You’ll rot your teeth out, Ralphie!

Ghosted by Matt(#2?) @ 03/09/2006 10:27 PM EST

OMG, doodz, has anywon herd thut Madballs are back? Yah, I no!! & Garbage Pail Kidz iz on DVDA!! WOWZ!!

hmmm….*wink*

kingklash, where can I gets me some o dat Giant Amped Ape Juice?!?!

Ghosted by kidneyboy @ 03/10/2006 12:02 PM EST

"I say effective because when one thinks about it, "Mountain Dew" is the sissiest-sounding name of any soft drink out there."

Sissier than Sprite? I bet all the cool kids wouldn’t be drinking it if it was called Pixie Cola or Fairy Pop or Elf Urine. Well, maybe that last one.

Ghosted by WelshRabbit @ 03/10/2006 12:43 PM EST

I wish I could have an eternal bottle of chilled/icy Mountain Dew. It really is the nectar of the Gods.

Someone mentioned Peeps. I bought 3 tiny plushie Peeps today. A Lavendar for me, a pink for my niece, and blue for my nephew. I was going to buy the microbead one, but … I really hate that silky material they use.

Ghosted by Ryane @ 03/10/2006 12:49 PM EST

I actually really like Mountain Dew out of a can best, followed by fountain, and then plastic bottle.

Coke: glass bottle, then can, fountain, and plastic.

anyone else rate their soda enjoyment while taking into consideration the container? or is that just my OCD talking?

Ghosted by kidneyboy @ 03/10/2006 12:59 PM EST

I seem to like my Dew best out of the plastic bottle. Next would be a can. I think the plastic somehow makes it taste more fresh. Though, out of a can it always tastes colder, then again, if you freeze it till it starts to get slushie, in a bottle … pure heaven.

I haven’t had a fountain drink in ages, so I dunno about that one. Besides, I just read an article on how utterly disgusting ice is, in some food establishments.

Ghosted by Ryane @ 03/10/2006 1:34 AM EST

Seen a commercial last night for a new soda, Coca Cola Blak…anybody here of it? Is it like Pepsi Kona?

Ghosted by Jackie @ 03/10/2006 5:38 AM EST

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