PURCHASE, N.Y. - August 19, 2008 - The people have spoken
and Voltage has been elected the new Mountain Dew flavor line extension. Mountain Dew Voltage, charged with raspberry
citrus flavor and ginseng, will officially take office in January 2009 when it
starts appearing on store shelves nationwide.
The DEWmocracy election was a unique contest between
three Mountain Dew flavors - Mountain Dew Revolution, Mountain Dew Supernova
and Mountain Dew Voltage - that were created by consumers. In October 2007, consumers began
participating in a series of interactive games at DEWmocracy.com to develop
every aspect of the three "candidates," including the color, flavor and name.
The DEWmocracy candidates were available in stores across
the country for a limited time this summer and consumers were fully engaged
throughout the election process. In
addition to the more than 350,000 votes that were cast at dewmocracy.com, thousands
of enthusiastic consumers were actively campaigning for their favorite flavor
on the site. Mountain Dew Voltage
received the most votes capturing 42% of the vote.
"Through this groundbreaking promotion that
attracted more than 1.6 million to our site, we gave consumers unprecedented
control over the brand and they delivered by developing three terrific
products," said Frank Cooper, VP of portfolio brands for Pepsi-Cola North
America. "In many respects, Voltage
is the 'People's Dew.' Consumers
designed every aspect of the product, actively campaigned for it and finally
elected it the next line extension."
DEWmocracy is not ending with the election results. Consumers will also play an integral role in
the marketing of Mountain Dew Voltage and they are already being invited to
suggest launch events at DEWmocracy.com.
Photo Caption: Mountain Dew Voltage, charged with
raspberry citrus flavor and ginseng, was one of three flavors created online by
consumers. Voltage won an online vote to
become the next Mountain Dew line extension and will start appearing on store
shelves nationwide in January.
ABOUT MOUNTAIN DEW
Mountain Dew is a product of the Purchase, N.Y.-based
Pepsi-Cola North America (www.pepsi.com),
the refreshment beverage unit of PepsiCo, Inc., in the United States and
Canada. In addition to Mountain Dew, Diet
Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew Code Red, Mountain Dew LiveWire and AMP Energy, its
U.S. brands include Pepsi, Aquafina, Sierra Mist, IZZE, SoBe, Mug, Tropicana
Twister Soda, Tropicana Juice Drinks, Dole and Ocean Spray single-serve juices.
The company also makes and markets North America's best-selling ready-to-drink
iced teas and coffees, respectively, via joint ventures with Lipton and
Starbucks.
