White Out (previously known as "Flavor #493") is a Mountain Dew flavor first released in stores in 2010 as a finalist in the second DEWmocracy II promotion, where it won and became a permanent flavor in the United States.
Description
White Out is a Smooth Citrus (Yuzu Lemongrass) flavor of Mountain Dew. During the initial DEWmocracy campaign, fans of the competing flavors referred to White Out as "Sprite Out," mocking its flavor profile as very similar to Sprite. Its color has a white look.
In Canada, it sports the same flavor following the American flavor of White Out. In Japan, it's a Cool Citrus flavor, and in New Zealand, it's a Lemon flavor.
Tagline
Its tagline is "Smooth Citrus Flavor DEW with Other Natural Flavors" in the United States, while its diet version's tagline was "Smooth Citrus Diet Dew with Other Natural Flavors." In Oceania, its catchphrase is "DEW with a Blast of Lemon Flavour."
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 was #231, #286, #493, #509, #648, #722, and #736.
(2010) DEWmocracy II: Collective Intelligence
- Main article: DEWmocracy II
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.
White Out, 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.
In early 2019, White Out, as well as other flavors, Real Sugar, Diet Code Red, Citrus Cherry, Pitch Black, Caffeine-Free Mountain Dew, Caffeine-Free Diet Mountain Dew were pulled from the shelves in most regions of the United States due to potentially low sales. As of late 2021, most of the aforementioned flavors are still being produced sporadically from independent Pepsi bottlers. As a result of this, White Out is currently only available in 20 ounce bottles.
(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 White Out eventually lost as it was narrowly missed being placed in the finals, coming in 3rd place. Diet Supernova won in 2011.
International release
Japan
On April 24th, 2012, Suntory announced they would release Mountain Dew White Out in Japan starting from June 12th, 2012. It was released as "マウンテンデュー ホワイトアウト" (Mountain Dew Whiteout) and was available in 500 ml bottles for 140 yen each, until 2013 when it was discontinued due to potentially low sales.[1]
New Zealand
In July 2014, White Out was released to New Zealand as part of their regular product line, replacing Electro Shock. It was described as "DEW with a blast of Lemon flavor."
White Out was sold for a short time and was discontinued by the following year, likely due to low sales. White Out never received an updated logo in New Zealand.
Canada
- Main article: DEWmocracy Canada
In March 2013, a voting promotion called DEWmocracy Canada was announced. The concept of its name and voting session alone is comparable and consists of competitors from prior American DEWmocracy promotions I from 2008 and II from 2010 (excluding Code Red). The candidates were Voltage, Supernova, Code Red, and White Out.
These four Dew flavors were released over the summer of 2013, competed with each other until July 4th, 2013, when the voting ended, and Voltage was announced as the winner, leaving the losing flavors, Supernova, Code Red, and White Out discontinued until next year in a second promotion. Voltage was officially re-released to stores permanently on July 15th, 2013.
In 2014, these losing three flavors were re-released in high demand for the Canadian Back By Popular Dewmand. The flavors reemerged again for 2014's DEWmocracy Canada promotion, where Code Red, White Out, and Supernova competed against each other over the summer of 2014 until August 5th, 2014, when the voting ended. Code Red was announced the winner, leaving the losing flavors, Supernova and White Out discontinued once again. Code Red was officially re-released to stores permanently on September 2nd, 2014.
On June 4th, 2022, it was discovered that White Out with a new updated design would be returning to Canada after nearly eight years, with this release also being a limited time offering in addition to being exclusively available at Circle K stores. Alongside Purple Thunder, it will be sold in 16 oz. tall boy cans. The design features a yeti which was previously used on 16 oz. cans from the Mountain Dew Snow Dance in late 2019. White Out and Purple Thunder was released a few days after this discovery.
White Out Freeze
7-Eleven
After White Out won DEWmocracy in 2010, a Slurpee version was made available at participating 7-Eleven convenience stores beginning in January 2011. After several years, it was discontinued, likely due to low sales.
Circle K
In July 2019, it was reported that the White Out Freeze came out in Circle K locations as a Froster Freeze for a limited time only for the DewNited promotion. After the promotion, it is still available in some Circle K locations.
Maverick
In October 2019, it was reported that the White Out Freeze came out in Maverick locations. It is unclear that if White Out is still available as a freeze flavor or not.
Trivia
- White Out is the second flavor to win a vote and become a permanent flavor in the United States to be later discontinued, after Diet Supernova and before Pitch Black.
- An old slurpee website confirmed the flavor profile of White Out to be Yuzu Lemongrass.
- This Canadian 2022 limited-time exclusive Circle K release of White Out is very likely to be the first time a US released flavor has ever received a redesign OUTSIDE of the United States.
