Two parts art, five parts soda

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Mountain Dew label by Chuck Anderson 

As part of Mountain Dew’s  Green Label Art campaign, the PepsiCo subsidiary has gotten together with a select number of artists and designers to come up a series of 12 limited-run bottle designs for their Mountain Dew bottles.  The project mixes soda and art to create a generous cocktail of (hopefully) increased sales.

It’s not what’s inside that’s important.  It’s all about the packaging.  The new contoured aluminum bottles highlight works created in a variety of artistic media including tattoo design, cut & paste collage, paint, charcoal and computer graphics.

Featured artists in the collection include:  Adam Juresko (collage artist), Chuck Anderson (photo illustration artist), Dr. Revolt (graffiti artist), jeffstaple(sneaker and apparel designer), JT Woodruff (lead singer/painter), Mark Nardelli (skateboard graphics designer), Methamphibian (sneaker and apparel designer), Peat Wollaeger (stencil artist), Troy Denning (tattoo artist), and TWEEQiM (vinyl action figures/toys).  Pepsi even enlisted Mountain Dew-sponsored professional skateboarder Paul Rodriguez to collaborate with skater-turned-artist Chris Pastras on a project. 

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The website offers behind-the-scenes videos contributed by each artist, schedules and highlights of planned events to support Green Label Art, and details on a consumer-generated bottle design contest.

Check out this YouTube video of graphic designer and 2007 Green Label Artist Mark Nardelli and the rest of the artistic crew.

The project goes beyond mere bottle design and into a marketing strategy termed brand extension.  Each artist has found different ways to incorporate his Mountain Dew designs into other projects:

●  Graffiti artist Dr. Revolt has customized a tricked out low-rider bicycle, painting the frame in the same style as his Mountain Dew bottle.   
●  Tattoo artist Troy Denning collaborated with New Era on a limited-edition hat based on his design.   
●  Graphic designer Mark Nardelli created limited-edition skateboard decks with his Mountain Dew artwork.  
●  Stencil artist Peat Wollaeger made a viral video in which he portrays, in costume, the whimsical Dew Hillbilly icon of 1960’s depicted on his bottle.   
●  Collage artist Adam Juresko designed a zippered hoodie sweatshirt featuring his Mountain Dew artwork.   
●  Guitarist and lead singer for Hawthorne Heights JT Woodruff will feature his design on the cover of his special-edition live CD.   

Of course, the bottles are filled with ordinary Mountain Dew. The soda cans were released in May 2007 to be sold only in eastern Virginia.  The manufacturer may expand distribution if sales of the bottles go well.  And hopefully it will.  I’ve been desperately searching for the artistic Dews here in New York State to add to my soda collection

LET US KNOW if you find the new Mountain Dew bottles for sale. 

Related Links:
Mountain Dew Unveils Aluminum Bottle Series  from PepsiCo News Release

Related MadSilence post:  Taken in by a pretty package

 ~TAB

Published in: on February 21, 2008 at 3:27 am
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3 Comments Leave a comment.

  1. On February 23, 2008 at 3:57 am leafless Said:

    Wow. It is quite a collection. I would love to collect them all.

  2. On February 24, 2008 at 1:14 am jafabrit Said:

    What an awesome collection! really fun, I would buy just for the artwork lol!

  3. On February 25, 2008 at 4:26 am madsilence Said:

    Leafless & JafaBrit, let’s watch out for the new Mountain Dew. My friends in NY & NJ are on the lookout. I’ve found them on eBay selling for $5 a can or bottle. TAB

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