It is a day full of important announcements: This morning, the makers of Mountain Dew — a neon-green citrus soft drink that you last drank when you were 13, and “getting into” “skateboarding” — revealed a “hard” version of the drink, called, appropriately, Hard Mountain Dew. Or rather, “Hard MTN Dew.”
“For 80 years MTN DEW has challenged the status quo, bringing bold flavors and unmatched beverage innovation to millions of fans,” reads the press release announcing this drink, which will be brewed in collaboration with the Boston Beer Company. The phrase “unmatched beverage innovation,” in this case, means a 5 percent alcohol, flavored malt beverage that will be available on store shelves in “early 2022.”
In some ways, the announcement is a return to form for Mountain Dew, which was originally marketed as a “hillbilly” drink with the name making clear reference to moonshine. Back then, the slogan promised, “It’ll tickle yore innards!” That has never been more true.
