Do The Dew(ito)?
Last week, photos began circulating online of a Doritos-flavored Mountain Dew being served to students at Ohio’s Kent State University. Despite the BevNET staff’s collective prayers that this was all some sort of sick joke, a Mountain Dew spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the images in a statement:
“We are always testing out new flavors of Mountain Dew, and giving our fans a voice in helping decide on the next new product has always been important to us. We opened up the DEW flavor vault and gave students a chance to try this Doritos-inspired flavor as part of a small program at colleges and universities.”
Under the PepsiCo umbrella, Mountain Dew and Doritos have been married for some time now, sharing space on advertisements and in-store displays and most recently, partnering up for the release of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
On Monday, Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert took on #DewitoGate in a segment titled ‘Adventures in Snackology,’ complete with a nod to BevNET.
Pepsi Turns Down Dance With Music Producer
Twenty-one-year-old electronic music producer Ryan DeRobertis has apparently been contacted by PepsiCo regarding his stage name, Saint Pepsi. In a post on his Facebook page, DeRobertis appeared to graciously concede defeat to the food and beverage industry heavyweight, writing “I am in a very powerful creative stage in my career and could not possibly let a dispute over a name slow down my momentum.” It has yet to be determined what name DeRobertis will use for his upcoming debut album.
Defining “Natural”
The New York Times has opened up its opinionator blog to a discussion regarding the use of the term “Natural” in food products. Voices include Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist, Marsha Cohen, a law professor, Richard Williams, a former official of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and Urvashi Rangan, director of consumer safety and sustainability for Consumer Reports, among others. Currently, the term “natural” has no guidelines in place as to how it is used when describing food and beverage products. This is unlike labeling an item “organic,” which is defined by law, though consumers often mistake the two for being the same.
Monster Energy Meets Its Match
Citing the company’s logo and “Unleash the Beast” tagline, a yet-to-be-identified woman was caught on video denouncing Monster Energy as being a front for Satan. Yes, you read that right. The unnamed activist points to details in the logo, packaging and marketing of Monster products as proof that the brand is the creation of devil worshippers, The video has gone viral on the Internet, and at press time is nearing 6 million views on YouTube. Monster has yet to respond to the allegations.