Mountain Dew Black Label was a Mountain Dew flavor pre-released in Fall 2015 exclusively at approximately 600 colleges and universities, giving students a first taste of the unique new beverage. Due to high demand and positive reception, it was officially released in March 2016 nationwide as a permanent flavor.
Description[]
Mountain Dew Black Label was a Dark Berry Punch flavor of Mountain Dew and was a red-purple magenta in color, described as a "Deeper, Darker, Dew."
The Label Series was defined as a "'Deeper, Darker, Dew' flavor, Made with Real Sugar, Crafted with Flavor and herbal bitters." The series was available in 16-ounce cans with a matte finish (similar to the later Mountain Dew Energy flavors), and Black Label was also available alongside two other flavors: White Label and Green Label.
Tagline[]
Its tagline was "DEW with Crafted Dark Berry Flavor with Other Natural Flavors."
Its pre-release tagline was "Naturally & Artificially Flavored," later changed to "Dark Berry Flavor with Other Natural Flavors."
History[]
In the Fall of 2015, Black Label was released exclusively at approximately 600 colleges and universities, giving students a first taste of the unique new beverage. The thirst for the darker and more mysterious side of DEW was clear as word quickly spread across social media networks and product flew off campus shelves. Because of its strong sales on college campuses, it was officially released in March 2016 nationwide as a permanent flavor alongside an advertising campaign called "Gentlemen of the Jacket"[1].
Greg Lyons, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Mountain Dew said this about Black Label, “DEW Nation loves to have a good time and Mountain Dew Black Label adds a touch of class to those awesome moments, it’s a beverage that satisfies a taste for life’s finer things without sacrificing the boldness of DEW.”[1]
In early 2019, Black Label, along with many other underperforming flavors was pulled from shelves in most regions. In early-to-mid 2020, it continued to be produced sporadically in certain areas by independent Pepsi bottlers. However, Black Label was fully discontinued by late 2020.
Trivia[]
- Black Label was featured on the YouTube channel myCountyMarket along with several other pre-release flavors of Mountain Dew from 2016 to 2019.
- Promotional material for the Label Series can be found here.
- Black Label was one of the few flavors that used to have Real Sugar instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup.
- In 2016, Mountain Dew released a MTN DEW Black Label GIF Keyboard to celebrate the release which fans could download from the App Store or Google Play store.[1] This keyboard is no longer available for download.