Mountain Dew Unveils Aluminum Bottle Series

Paul Rodriguez, a professional skateboarder - (PRNewsFoto/Pepsi-Cola Company)
Tattoo artist Troy Denning - (PRNewsFoto/Pepsi-Cola Company)

@@img1PURCHASE, NY – May 15, 2007 – Mountain Dew today announced the launch of Green Label Art, a limited-edition series of aluminum bottles featuring designs created by a variety of artists. The Green Label Art series (www.greenlabelart.com) will be released May through October in select markets. This series marks the first time a carbonated soft drink will be packaged in an aluminum bottle in the U.S.

The Green Label Art artists are an eclectic mix, ranging in style and notoriety, from apparel and sneaker designers to a vinyl action/toy designer and a lead singer from a top indie band. In addition, Paul Rodriguez, a professional skateboarder sponsored by Mountain Dew, collaborated on a design with skater-turned-artist, Chris Pastras.

The artists were given a plain, 16-ounce aluminum bottle and asked to create their expressions of Mountain Dew. Treating the bottles as a canvas, the artists used a variety of approaches and applications including: tattoo design, cut-and-paste materials, paint, charcoals and computer graphics.

“Green Label Art is about Mountain Dew facilitating creativity and self-expression that goes well beyond the package artwork,” said Frank Cooper, VP of marketing for Mountain Dew. “These artists used a unique Mountain Dew bottle as their canvas and extended it to other related projects such as short films, clothing and gallery showings.”

The bottles themselves are only part of the picture Mountain Dew is painting for Green Label Art. Each artist has found different ways to incorporate his Mountain Dew designs into other projects:

* Graffiti artist Dr. Revolt has customized a tricked out low-rider bicycle, painting the frame in the same style as his Mountain Dew bottle

* Tattoo artist Troy Denning collaborated with New Era on a limited-edition hat based on his design

* Graphic designer Mark Nardelli created limited-edition skateboard decks
with his Mountain Dew artwork

* Stencil artist Peat Wollaeger made a viral video in which he portrays, in costume, the whimsical Dew Hillbilly icon of 1960’s depicted on his bottle

* Collage artist Adam Juresko designed a zippered hoodie sweatshirt featuring his Mountain Dew artwork

* Guitarist and lead singer for Hawthorne Heights JT Woodruff will feature
his design on the cover of his special-edition live CD.
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All of the artists’ projects will be on display at their individual Mountain Dew bottle launch events. The first bottle release event, which will double as a launch for the program, is on Thursday, May 17 in Los Angeles. It will feature an exhibit of the collaboration between Rodriguez (P-Rod) and Pastras and will take place in the Chinatown district.

A multimedia micro-site, www.greenlabelart.com, launches today. The site will feature artist portfolios, behind-the-scene videos and detailed event highlights. In addition, Green Label Art is hosting a consumer-generated bottle design contest. Consumers will have all the tools necessary to design an individualized bottle through an interactive submission platform on the website. The general public can then vote for their favorite consumer-designed bottle. The winning artist will be awarded $10,000 and be a part of the next wave of Green Label Art designs.

The artists participating in Green Label Art are:
* TWEEQiM (miQ wilmOtt and THUY3) – vinyl action figures/toys; LA
* Troy Denning – tattoo artist; NYC
* Peat Wollaeger – stencil artist; St. Louis
* Mark Nardelli (created two designs for 5 Boro) – skateboard graphics designer; NYC
* jeffstaple – sneaker and apparel designer; NYC
* Methamphibian – sneaker and apparel designer; NYC
* Chris Pastras (with P-Rod) – skater/artist; LA
* Adam Juresko – collage artist; Richmond, Va.
* Dr. Revolt – graffiti artist; NYC
* Chuck Anderson – photo illustration artist; Chicago
* J.T. Woodruff (for Hawthorne Heights) – lead singer/painter; Dayton, Oh.

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. Pepsi-Cola North America’s other brands include Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Jazz, Pepsi ONE, Wild Cherry Pepsi, Diet Pepsi Vanilla, Diet Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew Code Red, Mountain Dew LiveWire, Sierra Mist, Sierra Mist Free, Mug, Tropicana Twister Soda, Aquafina, Aquafina FlavorSplash, Aquafina Sparkling, Aquafina Alive, Ben & Jerry’s MilkShakes, Dole and Ocean Spray single-serve juices, Tropicana Juice Drinks, IZZE and SoBe. 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.