The untold truth of Mountain Dew

Mountain Dew is everywhere these days. This highly-caffeinated, electric-colored drink is marketed toward a young crowd looking to live life on the edge. It's not uncommon to see extreme sports like skateboarding or mountain biking in their ads, or people attending crowded concerts or participating in all-nighter video game binges. Their marketing campaign seems to work, too; as of 2018, Mountain Dew is the fourth most popular soda, with a six to seven percent overall market share. But, it wasn't always that way. According to Appalachian Magazine, Mountain Dew had a rocky start.

The original creators, Barney and Ally Hartman, struggled to get Dew to take off, and they even tried to sell it to Coca-Cola in the early days. They eventually found a buyer in Virginia's Tip Corporation, who modified the drink to make it taste more citrus-forward. The changes worked, and the highly flavorful, super caffeinated beverage became such a big hit that Pepsi bought it in 1964. The rest is history; Pepsi's national distribution put Mountain Dew in people's hands all around the country and paved the way for Mountain Dew to develop several additional flavors.

You might think you know everything there is to know about this neon drink, but its rocky history isn't the only interesting tidbit about Mountain Dew.