Semiotic and Anthropological Analysis of Mountain Dew's Marketing!
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Mountain Dew, Males, and Outcasts.
Sometimes organizations, including food organizations, deliberate and pick groups of people in whom to advertise to. In regards to soda pop that should be easy right? Everyone loves soda, so why not advertise to everyone? Yet, the picking of demographics is taken much more seriously than that. Some companies may chose to have a wide audience-- such as all of the general population--while other’s have a desire to settle into a much narrower demographic. Sometimes these demographics fit into the group in which they are advertising, while at other times the demographics seem to have nothing to do with the product. Mountain Dew is one of those drinks that has a very unique audience in whom they try to persuade. Mountain Dew’s main targets, in a nutshell, are men from the ages of 13-30, and who are social outcasts. This audience has been relevant from the very beginning of its creation.Mountain Dew was created during the 1940’s by two young men from Tennessee—Alley and Barney Thompson. The drink was similar to today’s version in that it was a wonderful lemony and lime concoction; different in that its purpose was to be a mixer for whisky ( Mountain Dew Company, 2009). The constant use of all aspects of Mountain Dew advertising—targeting young male outcasts—was perfectly done in its very first commercial and print. On the can was the drawing of two hillbillies who were trying to comically shoot a revenuer that was fleeing from an outhouse (Associated Content, 2007). Themes, such as this classic one, would make its way through the ages by the reinvention of Mountain Dew advertisements--even into the 1990’s and Millennia.In the 1990’s new advertisements from Mountain Dew were swamped with images of crazy, rebellious, and danger loving young men. Dare devilish scenes would be shot in pristine locations such as the top of mountains, oceans, volcanoes, and other thrill seeking areas. In one commercial three men are on top of a mountain. One sees a ram that is defending its territory, which happens to have a Mountain Dew that is also protecting. The ram is obviously angry, and wishes for the young men to leave. Instead of running for safety the young men are intrigued by the animal. They think it would be fun to fight it for that Mountain Dew in which it is protecting! The ram—now kicking the dirt up behind him—begs for a fight. One man accepts its request. Kicking the dust behind HIS back that man charges, and bucks the ram. With success the ram is overcome, and the young man gets his cherished Mountain Dew. Methodically comical, the director was able to get the theme of Mountain Dew by portraying the male stereotype of wanting to protect his territory, and showcase his strength. This thrill seeking behavior, as portrayed in the commercials, encouraged Mountain Dew to also seek advertising in other ways such as through sponsorship’s (YouTube, 2009).During the 90’s Mountain Dew was a huge sponsor of the X-games—the Olympics of extreme sports. During these function’s athletes from often obsolete and weird sport choices would come together to compete. These sports included sky diving, blading, BMX biking, etc. Mountain Dew, picking a function which hosts non-traditional sports, again shows the main demographic in which the company wants to reach out to—young males from an outcast population. During the Millennia this theme of physical extremeness wore off as Mountain Dew re-invented itself for the new generation ( Mountain Dew Company, 2009).During the 2008 election Mountain Dew came up with Dewmocracy. Dewmocracy was a competition in which residents of the United States could go online and create a pop with a unique flavor and name. After the results were in three designs would be chosen and voted on. A theatrical three minute commercial was also created for this campaign. The commercial showed a man (again in his early young adult life) living in a big urban city. The city was depressingly homogenous as a result of its lack of cultural and artistic awareness. Soon it was revealed to the young man that he was the chosen one in which to bring change. Having a Mountain Dew bottle in hand he ran away from the big capitalistic police who were chasing him. Running from building to building he soon boarded an elevator, which took him to the top floor. Upon arrival his elevator mate, a Native American, opened the door to a mountains serene place, and told him that “He was the chosen one”. Taking this advice he ran, and then jumped into the ocean-- a symbol of bringing back artistic expression ( Mountain Dew Company, 2009).Many things struck me about this advertisement. First, that a multi-million dollar company was promoting anti-capitalism within one of their commercials. It was also interesting the manipulation of the Native American icon within the ad. It truly was an odd character to be in the commercial, but understandable if they want to get their ambiance across as being environmentally and culturally aware. One last thing that I found interesting about the commercial was that they felt the promotion of freedom could only be achieved by a white young male. Another sub-culture that has been influential during the millennia are those that practice green living. The Mountain Dew Company, a few years back, created a record and art label promotion company called Green Label Sound. Here marginalized genres of music-- rap, alternative rock, and techno—were given the ability to showcase their style. Many music videos were showcased online, and specially made “art” bottles were sold in stores. The name of the label obviously was created to blend in with the new organic loving, green living groups within the United States. This was an ingenious idea as this certain group would have been hard to reach with a drink product that goes against its very core. Instead of using the drink as a way to promote green living, the company instead invested in other cultural aspects such as through music, and art in which the sub-culture also partakes. They then incorporated this back into their product. If they did not do that then I feel their advertising campaign would not have been successful. The very drink that they are selling is anything but green. It has sugar, caffeine, and many other chemicals that one seriously labeled as being green would not even dare touch, let alone be seen with. So my question after these two “modern” advertisements is why are they advertising to groups that both go against their core (capitalism), and product (carbonated junk drink) ( Green Label Sound, 2009). Why not actually sell your product to people that drink it such as gamers? Wait they do that too!The internet site was also heavily geared toward the video game crowd. Mountain Dew had many non related video games on their web site in which the visitor could play. I tried some of them and they were actually pretty dang fun, though, they really did have NOTHING to do with the drink. Yet, this AGIAN shows their bias towards young males, who are often stereotyped as the ones playing video games-- not females. They are also, as re-iterated many times above, seen as outcasts. Now back to my point as to why I think gamers are better population to advertise to. You see, video gamers are known as couch potatoes that love to eat un-healthy products. They are stereotyped as being sluggish, dorky, having tons of zits, and a lack of girlfriends. Hmm, actually from reading this description it does become quite clear as to why mountain dew would not want to advertise to them. Because they are unattractive! So just as with beer companies , that try to stay clear of the actual result of drinking a lot of beer--beer belly-- it is much more effective to portray a healthy attractive and affluent man. So I suppose it is still true that Mountain Dew likes to put most of their money into advertising to young male outcasts. Yet, find it most profitable to advertise only the good looking outcasts, not the ugly ones ( Mountain Dew Company, 2009).While doing this research I was not expecting to uncover as much as I did. I always knew that advertisers tried to appeal to certain people, but I did not realize how by doing so many actually go against their core. It was interesting that Mountain Dew would pick a population that in many ways seems so against the drink. To me that would be like pulling a tooth. Yet, it appeals to someone out there whether the intended audience or not, as seen from its popularity. How does it works? I do not know, but it does and it is fascinating.
1970's Mountain Dew Logo
Sometimes organizations, including food organizations, deliberate and pick groups of people in whom to advertise to. In regards to soda pop that should be easy right? Everyone loves soda, so why not advertise to everyone? Yet, the picking of demographics is taken much more seriously than that. Some companies may chose to have a wide audience-- such as all of the general population--while other’s have a desire to settle into a much narrower demographic. Sometimes these demographics fit into the group in which they are advertising, while at other times the demographics seem to have nothing to do with the product. Mountain Dew is one of those drinks that has a very unique audience in whom they try to persuade. Mountain Dew’s main targets, in a nutshell, are men from the ages of 13-30, and who are social outcasts. This audience has been relevant from the very beginning of its creation.Mountain Dew was created during the 1940’s by two young men from Tennessee—Alley and Barney Thompson. The drink was similar to today’s version in that it was a wonderful lemony and lime concoction; different in that its purpose was to be a mixer for whisky ( Mountain Dew Company, 2009). The constant use of all aspects of Mountain Dew advertising—targeting young male outcasts—was perfectly done in its very first commercial and print. On the can was the drawing of two hillbillies who were trying to comically shoot a revenuer that was fleeing from an outhouse (Associated Content, 2007). Themes, such as this classic one, would make its way through the ages by the reinvention of Mountain Dew advertisements--even into the 1990’s and Millennia.In the 1990’s new advertisements from Mountain Dew were swamped with images of crazy, rebellious, and danger loving young men. Dare devilish scenes would be shot in pristine locations such as the top of mountains, oceans, volcanoes, and other thrill seeking areas. In one commercial three men are on top of a mountain. One sees a ram that is defending its territory, which happens to have a Mountain Dew that is also protecting. The ram is obviously angry, and wishes for the young men to leave. Instead of running for safety the young men are intrigued by the animal. They think it would be fun to fight it for that Mountain Dew in which it is protecting! The ram—now kicking the dirt up behind him—begs for a fight. One man accepts its request. Kicking the dust behind HIS back that man charges, and bucks the ram. With success the ram is overcome, and the young man gets his cherished Mountain Dew. Methodically comical, the director was able to get the theme of Mountain Dew by portraying the male stereotype of wanting to protect his territory, and showcase his strength. This thrill seeking behavior, as portrayed in the commercials, encouraged Mountain Dew to also seek advertising in other ways such as through sponsorship’s (YouTube, 2009).During the 90’s Mountain Dew was a huge sponsor of the X-games—the Olympics of extreme sports. During these function’s athletes from often obsolete and weird sport choices would come together to compete. These sports included sky diving, blading, BMX biking, etc. Mountain Dew, picking a function which hosts non-traditional sports, again shows the main demographic in which the company wants to reach out to—young males from an outcast population. During the Millennia this theme of physical extremeness wore off as Mountain Dew re-invented itself for the new generation ( Mountain Dew Company, 2009).During the 2008 election Mountain Dew came up with Dewmocracy. Dewmocracy was a competition in which residents of the United States could go online and create a pop with a unique flavor and name. After the results were in three designs would be chosen and voted on. A theatrical three minute commercial was also created for this campaign. The commercial showed a man (again in his early young adult life) living in a big urban city. The city was depressingly homogenous as a result of its lack of cultural and artistic awareness. Soon it was revealed to the young man that he was the chosen one in which to bring change. Having a Mountain Dew bottle in hand he ran away from the big capitalistic police who were chasing him. Running from building to building he soon boarded an elevator, which took him to the top floor. Upon arrival his elevator mate, a Native American, opened the door to a mountains serene place, and told him that “He was the chosen one”. Taking this advice he ran, and then jumped into the ocean-- a symbol of bringing back artistic expression ( Mountain Dew Company, 2009).Many things struck me about this advertisement. First, that a multi-million dollar company was promoting anti-capitalism within one of their commercials. It was also interesting the manipulation of the Native American icon within the ad. It truly was an odd character to be in the commercial, but understandable if they want to get their ambiance across as being environmentally and culturally aware. One last thing that I found interesting about the commercial was that they felt the promotion of freedom could only be achieved by a white young male. Another sub-culture that has been influential during the millennia are those that practice green living. The Mountain Dew Company, a few years back, created a record and art label promotion company called Green Label Sound. Here marginalized genres of music-- rap, alternative rock, and techno—were given the ability to showcase their style. Many music videos were showcased online, and specially made “art” bottles were sold in stores. The name of the label obviously was created to blend in with the new organic loving, green living groups within the United States. This was an ingenious idea as this certain group would have been hard to reach with a drink product that goes against its very core. Instead of using the drink as a way to promote green living, the company instead invested in other cultural aspects such as through music, and art in which the sub-culture also partakes. They then incorporated this back into their product. If they did not do that then I feel their advertising campaign would not have been successful. The very drink that they are selling is anything but green. It has sugar, caffeine, and many other chemicals that one seriously labeled as being green would not even dare touch, let alone be seen with. So my question after these two “modern” advertisements is why are they advertising to groups that both go against their core (capitalism), and product (carbonated junk drink) ( Green Label Sound, 2009). Why not actually sell your product to people that drink it such as gamers? Wait they do that too!The internet site was also heavily geared toward the video game crowd. Mountain Dew had many non related video games on their web site in which the visitor could play. I tried some of them and they were actually pretty dang fun, though, they really did have NOTHING to do with the drink. Yet, this AGIAN shows their bias towards young males, who are often stereotyped as the ones playing video games-- not females. They are also, as re-iterated many times above, seen as outcasts. Now back to my point as to why I think gamers are better population to advertise to. You see, video gamers are known as couch potatoes that love to eat un-healthy products. They are stereotyped as being sluggish, dorky, having tons of zits, and a lack of girlfriends. Hmm, actually from reading this description it does become quite clear as to why mountain dew would not want to advertise to them. Because they are unattractive! So just as with beer companies , that try to stay clear of the actual result of drinking a lot of beer--beer belly-- it is much more effective to portray a healthy attractive and affluent man. So I suppose it is still true that Mountain Dew likes to put most of their money into advertising to young male outcasts. Yet, find it most profitable to advertise only the good looking outcasts, not the ugly ones ( Mountain Dew Company, 2009).While doing this research I was not expecting to uncover as much as I did. I always knew that advertisers tried to appeal to certain people, but I did not realize how by doing so many actually go against their core. It was interesting that Mountain Dew would pick a population that in many ways seems so against the drink. To me that would be like pulling a tooth. Yet, it appeals to someone out there whether the intended audience or not, as seen from its popularity. How does it works? I do not know, but it does and it is fascinating.
1970's Mountain Dew Logo
Analysis done by:- Brittani McLeod.
Brittani McLeod is a friend from the West coast of the USA. She is an anthropology student at a Universty there. For one of her assigments she wrote about Mountain Dew. Here it is.
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