Mountain Dew MDX was a Mountain Dew energy drink released from November 1st, 2005, until Mid-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 had a comparable tasting flavor and color to the Original flavor of Amp Energy.
It was an energy drink that contained Gurana, D-Ribose, Maltodextrin, Taurine, and Ginseng. MDX was similar to Mountain Dew in terms of flavor and color but had a higher caffeine content and had a mild bitter aftertaste.
MDX also had a Sugar-Free variant released alongside the Full-Sugar version, and it was available from November 2005 until November 2006. The Sugar-Free variant was only available in 14-ounce bottles, unlike the Full-Sugar variant was available in 14-ounce and 20-ounce bottles.
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 being given out at the Xbox 360 introduction party. After testing, the release date was revealed in October 2005[3], planned to be on schedule releasing 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 animals during the nighttime 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, and 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, discontinued the 14-ounce bottle size in favor of the 20-ounce bottle size, discontinued the Sugar-Free variant during rebranding, and was still being branded as that in March 2007[11]. From the commercial point of view, one radio commercial aired in March 2007[12]. After the heavy promotion, it quickly fell short as it was discontinued in Mid-2007. Meanwhile, MDX's rival Vault remained in production until December 2011, when it 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 mid-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" by Lionel Richie, "Sunglasses At Night" by Corey Hart, and "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins.
- 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 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/