Dive Brief:

• Hard Mtn Dew is celebrating its one-year anniversary with its first new flavor addition and an accompanying retirement home launch party, per a news release.   
• The rollout of Hard Mtn Dew Livewire, which has an orange citrus flavor, is supported by a "Definitely Over 21" spring break bonanza at a retirement community in Florida. While the gathering is focused on the older crowd, fans over 21 can enter a contest to win an expenses-paid trip to the event.    
• Starting today (March 1), those interested in attending can visit a website to describe how they’d spend their weekend living it up with hard-partying Sunshine State seniors. The promotion sees Hard Mtn Dew capitalizing on the travel rebound with a tongue-in-cheek experience.    

Dive Insight:

Hard Mtn Dew is aiming to make a splash for its new Livewire variant through the “Definitely Over 21” contest. The citrus-flavored alcoholic beverage is currently available to purchase wherever Hard Mtn Dew is sold, but the retirement community party could generate additional media traction around the launch. The timing also aligns as young consumers in the drink’s target demographic plan spring break festivities that typically involve libations. 

In its limited time on the market, Hard Mtn Dew has used eccentric experiences to ingratiate itself with consumers. Last year, the marketer asked diehard followers to propose to a can of Hard Mtn Dew in an expression of brand love. Contest winners were sent to Las Vegas, Nevada, for a mock wedding ceremony enshrining their place in Hard Mtn Dew history. 

The "Definitely Over 21" promotion picks up that thread, promising imaginative fans the chance to hang at a “notorious party destination for retirees” in a state known for its orange production. The event itself will be held in late March or early April and submissions will be graded on their level of imagination and originality, according to the contest’s website. One winner will be picked after the contest window closes on March 10.  

Hard Mtn Dew is made in partnership between PepsiCo, Mtn Dew’s owner, and Boston Beer Company, which also manufactures Samuel Adams beer and Truly Hard Seltzer. Boston Beer Company develops and produces Hard Mtn Dew while PepsiCo is responsible for wholesale operations, including sales, distribution and merchandising, through an entity called Blue Cloud Distribution.

The hard soda product, which carries zero caffeine and sugar and a 5% alcohol by volume, first hit shelves in late February last year in four flavors: original, Baja Blast, Black Cherry and Watermelon. Livewire is the first new flavor to be added to the lineup. 

Hard Mtn Dew’s product expansion comes as beverages like hard soda, hard seltzer and ready-to-drink canned cocktails face greater scrutiny. A recent New York Times piece found swelling concern among regulators and researchers in relation to the category, as it tends to be aimed at younger cohorts and blurs some of the conventional lines between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.