The formula invented back in the 1940s in Marion, Virginia by Bill Jones, president of Tip Corporation and first marketed in Johnson City and Knoxville, Tennessee the south-eastern state of Tennessee, USA in 1948.
Early Mountain Dew bottles featured Willy the Hillbilly, accompanied by his pet pig, taking a potshot at a fleeing revenuer.
The name Mountain Dew was first trademarked by two brothers, Barney and Ally Hartman, who ran a bottling plant in Knoxville, Tennessee. The brothers originated the lime green beverage as a mixer in the late 1940s. That mixer was redeveloped in 1954 as a soft drink called Mountain Dew.
Hartman brothers later sold the original formula and the Mountain Dew name to Bill Jones.
Bill Bridgforth of Tri-City Beverage in Johnson City, Tennessee, was instrumental in creating its final formula in 1958. He joined the company in the same year.
By 1961, Jones had acquired all rights to the products and introduced a new Mountain Dew in local stores shelves.
Mountain Dew was acquired by the Pepsi Cola Company in 1964. It has been introduced globally at various stages, but the USA remains its stronghold.
PepsiCo aggressively promoted Mountain Dew nationally during the late 1980s, and expanded the product line.
Mountain Dew abandoned Wily the Hillbilly and today Dew as ‘young, active, outdoor types’ who are presumably too busy snowboarding to shoot at revenuers.
It has successfully revived its brand though association with extreme sports and the development of an active, energetic and outgoing brand personality.
History of Mountain Dew
