Ad Campaign

Ad Campaign

Gabe Galbraith

BUS 620 Managerial Marketing

Dr. Uchenna Nwabueze

05/26/2013

Abstract

This paper will examine Mountain Dew and their lack of “street cred” in their consumer base. Mountain Dew is a carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in 1940 by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman. Mountain Dew was marketed initially in Virginia and Tennessee using the slogan "Ya-Hoo! Mountain Dew. It'll tickle yore innards.” The Pepsi-Cola company acquired the Mountain Dew brand and production rights in 1964, at which point distribution expanded more widely across the United States and Canada. Mountain Dew’s core target audience is white consumers, it lacks “street cred,” and it is trying to gain appeal with young blacks and Latinos. Meanwhile, Mountain Dew’s target market—young people from 18 to 24—are increasingly more diverse. The trick for the world’s second-largest soda maker will be to reach these new audiences while holding on to core Dew fans (Stanford, 2012). This paper examines the Stanford’s article about Mountain Dew and their use of celebrity endorsements to appeal to the diverse audience of its target market.

Ad Campaign

Mountain Dew was once a nickname for moonshine liquor. It was created in the 1940s by Ally and Barney Hartman as a lemony soda and spirits mixer. Early bottles featured a gun-toting hillbilly chasing a federal agent from an outhouse. Its first TV ad used the slogan, “Ya-hoo! Mountain Dew! It’ll tickle your innards.” A barefoot, one-toothed mountain man raved, “Shore as shootin’, there’s a bang in every bottle,” as a curvy woman wearing a hair bow and Wilma Flintstone-looking dress took a sip (Stanford, 2012). This was the first clever ad that Mountain Dew created to market their product. Meanwhile, Mountain Dew’s target market—young people from 18 to 24—are increasingly more...