Distortion (previously known as "Flavor #231") is a Mountain Dew flavor first released in stores in 2010 as a finalist in the DEWmocracy 2 promotion, where it lost to White Out.
Description[]
Distortion was a Lime flavor of Mountain Dew. Since it was green in color, its label was shaded darker than original Mountain Dew's to avoid confusion between the two flavors. It was similar to another Dew flavor, Lime, in both flavor and color.
Tagline[]
Its tagline was "Lime blasted DEW with natural and artificial flavors" while its diet version's planned tagline was "Lime blasted Diet DEW with natural and artificial flavors."
History[]
(2009) Taste testing release[]
In 2009, the second DEWmocracy campaign began with a tour to 17 cities in the United States, where people living in these cities were given a chance to taste many new flavors of Mountain Dew.
At the same time, Dew Labs members were sent a case to taste test seven distantly unique flavors to suggest their reviews on which they prefer out of the seven. The seven flavors for the Dew Lab research study were #231, #286, #493, #509, #648, #722, and #736.
(2010) DEWmocracy II: Collective Intelligence[]
- Main article: DEWmocracy 2
Out of seven flavors, with the help Dew Labs members, only three finalists were chosen that is White Out (a white Smooth Citrus flavor), Typhoon (a red-orange Tropical Punch flavor) and Distortion (a green Lime flavor). Designs then were submitted from artistic fans.
Distortion, alongside its competitors, Typhoon and Distortion, was officially released on April 19th, 2010, over the summer of 2010 to compete for a chance to become a permanent flavor. Drinkers were able to try all three flavors and vote on which they preferred for their favorite. Voting ended in June, and White Out had won 44% of the votes, Typhoon had 40%, and Distortion had 16%. White Out was officially re-released to stores on October 4th of that year.
Many attribute Distortion's poor performance in DEWmocracy II to its similarity in both flavor and color to that of original Mountain Dew.
(2010) FanDEWmonium[]
- Main article: FanDEWmonium
Much like the DEWmocracy promotion in voting style, in October 2010, a campaign called FanDEWmonium was announced, that has eight Diet exclusive Dew flavors such as Diet Supernova, Diet Voltage, Diet White Out, Diet Flare, Diet Typhoon, Diet Ultra Violet, Diet Crave, Diet Distortion to compete for a chance to become a permanent flavor. Diet Distortion performed poorly, finishing in 8th place. Diet Supernova won in 2011.
Freeze release[]
(2013 - 2014) Taco Bell[]
Beginning September 26, 2013, select Taco Bell locations began offering "Mountain Dew Distortion Freeze," an icy variant of Distortion similar to Baja Blast Freeze and the restaurant's pre-existing Frutista Freeze line. It was later discontinued at the beginning of March 2014, and replaced by another Mountain Dew Freeze flavor, the Kickstart Black Cherry Freeze.
Trivia[]
- During the taste testing period in 2009, Distortion had a nickname of Outburst.
- Distortion is currently one of three mainline Mountain Dew flavor variants from the 2000s to not see a re-release in cans or bottles, the other being 2005's Pitch Black II and 2008's Revolution.