The Secret, Sordid and Splendid Story Of How Mountain Dew Got Its Name

We’ve all had our share of the classic Mountain Dew. Whether you’re pulling an all-nighter or binge-watching House Of Cards - this yellow soda fits right in and sets the mood right.

That said, ever wondered why such a bold name? Where it came from? What does it mean? The story behind it?

If not, fasten your seatbelts and grab a cup of coffee. We’re about to jump into the almost-killer history of Mountain Dew. Let’s go:

How It All Started

Mountain Dew was introduced by two Knoxville, Tennessee brothers. They managed a bottling plant of Orange-Crush in Augusta, Georgia. However, they moved to Knoxville in the 1940s. And that’s where the liquid sorcery began.

Two brothers - Barney and Ally Hartman - used to end their days with a mixed drink comprising bourbon and Natural Setup. Natural Setup was a sprite-like, lemon-lime soda from the 1940s. Unfortunately, Knoxville didn’t have the brothers’ favourite bourbon mixer.

And if Tennessee brothers were lazy potato couches, chances are, we’d never have such a beast of a drink. But guess what? They didn’t sink into their couches and complain. Far from that.

They had a strong knack for the mixer. So much so they built their own. The Personal Setup.

As they say: when there’s a will, there’s a way.

They came up with a mixer that made whiskey taste better. They made it for their own taste. There was no caffeine in it. Just a transparent, lemon-lime flavored mixer. Talk about personalization.

Good job. Boys.

That being said, later down the road, everything changed - the taste, color, slogan, and packaging.

The Name Tale

Now - while there are controversies around the meaning of Mountain Dew, I’ll cover all the bits and crumbs of it. You be the judge.

Some say, “Mountain Dew” used to be an old Scotch-Irish slang term. It referred to whiskey at the time.

Another source says: there was a homemade alcohol called “moonshine” - nicknamed Mountain Dew. The Tennessee brothers found their version of mixer tasting a lot like “moonshine” or “Mountain Dew” when mixed with the whiskey.

And that’s how the mixer for personal usage got the name “Mountain Dew.”

Mountain Dew Milestone

The Tennessee brothers started selling their mixer in bottles. There were pictures of unsophisticated hill people with shotguns, and they were chasing the government tax collectors with guns.

Their advertising campaigns also had weird drawings of barefooted, pipe-smoking people, lazy hunting dogs, and also fly-infested outhouses. The pinnacle of creepiness.

They also had a slogan - “Yaaaa-hoo! Mountain Dew!”

They were doing well and selling each bottle for 15 cents in the area. But that didn’t help them bank hard or earn a fortune.

This was before Pepsi bought Mountain Dew. In 1964, they owned the company, and Dew got recognition through Pepsi and became available all over the US.

Sadly the acquisition didn’t generate the expected results. The reason? The image on the bottle. It just didn’t have a strong enough message or vibe to sing and dance people into buying it. Rather, it was totally irrelevant for an energy drink.

Seeing the downfall, Pepsi folded its sleeves and showered Mountain Dew with a new look. Removing the “hillbilly” image became mandatory to target a newer and younger audience. So Pepsi dropped the image in 1973. The renovation began!

They even changed the slogan to “Do The Dew” by 1993.

Pepsi thought outside the box and introduced a game-changer to increase sales.

They sponsored the first X games in 1995 and celebrated extreme sports. Their ads started changing too. It was more for the younger generation. For example: ads with skateboarders going through the traffic and getting themselves Mountain Dew bottles.

Another ad showed a cheetah stealing a Mountain Dew can and the athletes going after it to get it back. These thrilling ads gave the youngster’s an adrenaline rush and hooked them like hypnotized chickens.

Pepsi kept sponsoring exciting games like Dew Action Extreme Sports Tour and the summer and winter X games, which skyrocketed their business by the motherload.

Shady Ingredient List

Can you describe the colour of Mountain Dew? Yellow? Green? Or neon? What’s the ingredient giving our favourite energizer this electric colour?

Tartrazine. It’s a food dye known as Yellow 5.

Although the food dye is FDA approved, the quantity is on the higher side. But Don’t worry. This isn’t something to fear.

Let’s learn about the other ingredients in the drink. We don’t want to be consuming acids now, do we?

The label says it contains high fructose corn syrup to sweeten carbonated water (of course!), citric acid for a lemon-lime flavor, and caffeine. Preservatives are used too. But that’s not all.

It’s different from other soft drinks as it contains two totally unusual ingredients - orange juice and BVO - standing for Brominated Vegetable Oil. Weirdly satisfying.

Now - let me spill the beans on why I called the ingredients shady. Remember DEWshine? The 2015 version of Mountain Dew.

Why? RACING FUEL. You heard me right. They used racing fuel with the Mountain Dew and marketed as DEWshine. It’s a proven fatal combination. Hopefully, landing the producer in jail, and hell.

The Center for Disease Control states that Racing fuel is composed of methanol mostly - and even a tablespoon of consumption can be deadly.

There’s even an incident backing the CDC’s claim. 4 teenagers in Tennessee mixed DEWshine with their drinks, and they all were hospitalized. 2 of them survived the battle while the other 2 didn’t. Sheesh!!

This resulted in the discontinuation of DEWshine.

Secret Formula (shush!)

The Mountain Dew that we have today isn't the same the Tennessee brothers drank. But you can sneak your way into following the recipe below:

Take some lemon and mint. Use a muddle to create a mixture. Now - take a whiskey glass and pour the mixture in it - including simple syrup if you want. Fill it up with some ice. Pour your favourite whiskey and Mountain Dew in it.

Voila! The spot hitting drink is served. Enjoy.

Last Words

There you have, everything revealed. The two brothers - Barney and Ally - going through lots of ups and downs - ultimately made the refreshing energy drink everyone knows as Mountain Dew today.

Now that you know they’re safe, feel free to bathe in a pool full.