Mountain Dew this week became the latest marketer to reinvigorate an iconic tagline, launching a campaign that pairs “Do The Dew” with a new brand character called the Mountain Dude. For the PepsiCo-owned soda brand, the effort is a lighthearted way to boost consumer attention, affinity and awareness, said JP Bittencourt, vice president of marketing at Mountain Dew.

“’Do the Dew’ has been around for 30-plus years, and it was a great time, certainly during the peak of summer season, to roll out the campaign and new direction for the brand, which was all about just getting people off their asses and having a damn good time,” Bittencourt said.

The new campaign features a pair of 30-second commercials that begin with bored consumers using smartphones and virtual reality headsets as they lounge on donkeys. Enter the Mountain Dude, a swaggering figure with a ‘70s-inspired look complete with long hair, a flowing beard and lime-green fur coat. Once consumers open and sip a Mountain Dew, they are transported to the mountains for a game of kickball with yetis and a pickup football game with rams. 

Along with the 30-second spots, the campaign includes 15- and 6-second spots across linear television, premium online video, social, digital and out-of-home channels. The campaign was created with Goodby Silverstein & Partners, which worked on the brand’s Super Bowl ad for its Baja Blast flavor.

“The Mountain is in the brand’s DNA, and this new work represents a world full of endless possibilities,” said Margaret Johnson, chief creative officer at Goodby Silverstein & Partners, in a statement.

Boosting cultural relevance 

While the campaign uses slightly edgy humor to capture consumer attention, its message is rooted in the brand’s consumer insights.

“We went out and talked to our consumers, and there is this notion of wanting to go out and be with other people, and sometimes just needing a little kick to go and do that,” Bittencourt said. “I thought that it was a meaningful message, but it’s also being done in a way that’s not too judgy or judgmental.”

Consumers can expect the Mountain Dude to come to life across a variety of real-world experiential executions through the rest of the year and into the next. The character allows Mountain Dew to bolster its cultural relevancy, either in ad hoc activations or in more planned-out efforts.

Mountain Dew has long made the outdoors and gaming part of its brand identity. Earlier this year, the company launched two yearlong rewards programs that target consumers interested in both categories. The new campaign builds on those activities.

Meanwhile, the refresh of longtime tagline “Do the Dew” comes as several brands have brought back iconic slogans that first found popularity in the ‘90s. Sister brand Gatorade revived its “Is It In You?” tagline, while competitor Coca-Cola brought back Sprite’s “Obey Your Thirst” and Fanta’s “Wanta Fanta.”