Mountain Dew MDX was a Mountain Dew energy drink released on November 1st, 2005. It remained available until late 2007, when it was discontinued due to consumer confusion and low sales. It was PepsiCo's attempt to compete with Coca-Cola's Vault energy drink.
Description[]
Mountain Dew MDX was a Citrus flavor of Mountain Dew and had a yellow-green look. It was an energy drink that contained Guarana, D-Ribose, Maltodextrin, Taurine, and Ginseng. MDX was similar to Amp Energy in flavor and color but had a higher caffeine content and a mildly bitter aftertaste.
MDX also had a Sugar-Free variant, which was released alongside the Full-Sugar version and was available from November 2005 until November 2006. The Sugar-Free variant was only available in 14-ounce bottles, whereas the Full-Sugar variant was available in 14-ounce (from 2005 to 2006) and 20-ounce bottles (from 2006 to 2007).
History[]
In the Summer of 2005[1], PepsiCo began testing a Mountain Dew energy drink named "Mountain Dew X," [Variant 516] as the prototype name for "Mountain Dew MDX." A "beta test" of MDX was conducted through the official Mountain Dew website[2], and six packs of the energy drink were given out to selected attendees of the E3 video game fair in May 2005. Individual cans were also given out at the Xbox 360 introduction party. After testing, the release date was revealed in October 2005[3], with the drink scheduled to be released on November 1st, 2005 in 14-ounce bottles.
Though Coca-Cola's Vault made a test-marketing regional release in June 2005, Coca-Cola attempted to rival PepsiCo's MDX energy drink as both energy drink hybrids were in the testing phase[4]. Mountain Dew MDX, alongside its Sugar-Free variant, was released on November 1st, 2005, while Vault was released in February 2006 nationwide.
During MDX's release, it had a marketing push of three commercials[5] aired on television, including Spike TV's Video Game Awards on December 10th, 2005[6], centered on nocturnal animals while having them lip-synching/singing night-themed songs aimed at a young male demographic.[7]
In October 2006[8], PepsiCo decided to overhaul the change of strategy for MDX. Due to customer confusion and slow sales, PepsiCo planned on axing the "Be Nocturnal" commercials in favor of ads themed "Stay Sharp,"[9] which planned to quiz TV viewers about details from the shows they are watching, along with a website[10] promoting it. Instead of marking MDX as an energy drink, it was marketed as an energy-infused soft drink to avoid direct competition.
In November 2006, PepsiCo rebranded MDX as an energy-infused soda[11], and the 14-ounce bottle size was discontinued in favor of a standard 20-ounce bottle size that was used for all regular flavors. The Sugar-Free variant was also discontinued during this time. Following the rebranding, a radio commercial for the rebranded MDX aired in March 2007.[12] Despite the heavy promotion, it quickly also fell short, and as a result, MDX was discontinued in late 2007. Meanwhile, MDX's rival Vault remained in production until December 2011, when it too was discontinued.
Trivia[]
- During the "beta test" of MDX's test release, it had a prototype name of "Mountain Dew X."
- In 2009[13], after MDX was discontinued in late 2007, Coca-Cola decided to do a marketing strategy campaign named the "Don't Dew It" program. People could get a free a 16-, 20- or 24-ounce Vault with any purchase of a 20-ounce Mountain Dew.
- It soon backfired as Coca-Cola later instead market the comeback of Mello Yello in 2011[14] and discontinued Vault in December that same year.
- The songs used in the three ads were "All Night Long (All Night)" by Lionel Richie, "Sunglasses at Night" by Corey Hart, and "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins, all songs from the 1980s.
- This was one of many attempts at a Mountain Dew energy drink. See "Similar Flavors" in the infobox for more.
- MDX was the pioneering flavor for the Sidekick bottle design, which PepsiCo would incorporate into most of their 20-ounce bottle designs later on in the 2010s, replacing the dome-like design.
- There were two websites promoting Mountain Dew MDX. The first was the "Be Nocturnal" website, and the second was the "Stay Sharp" website.
- On the first website, there was a game called "Nocturnal Cab Company,"[15] where you can play as three animals: A bat, An owl, and a possum. The game is playable on the Wayback Machine and Flashpoint Archive's archive of online Flash games.
References[]
- ↑ https://brinksmarket.com/dew/old/2005/mdx.htm
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110816104501/http://www.bevreview.com/2005/05/26/coming-soon-mountain-dew-x/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110815210136/http://www.bevreview.com/2005/10/20/coming-soon-mountain-dew-mdx-mountain-dew-x/
- ↑ https://csnews.com/coca-cola-test-citrus-flavors
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilhntGBeCWY
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y0bxT6oNYo&t=1512s
- ↑ https://csnews.com/coke-pepsi-launch-new-energy-drinks
- ↑ https://csnews.com/mountain-dew-get-do-over
- ↑ https://adsspot.me/subbrands/mountain-dew-mdx-15652a9fe9d7
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20061205095001/http://www.staysharp.tv/
- ↑ https://csnews.com/soft-drinks-aplenty
- ↑ https://adsspot.me/media/radio/mountain-dew-mdx-young-rook-15df2ea0ac70
- ↑ https://csnews.com/coke-promotion-gives-free-vault-mountain-dew-customers
- ↑ https://csnews.com/coca-cola-investing-comeback-mello-yello
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20181209044458/https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/tribal-ddb-creates-game-site-mdx-82528/