Mountain Dew Is Dropping The Abbreviation And Getting Back To Its Roots

If you grew up with the beloved brand Mountain Dew, you'll be happy to learn that the iconic soda is reclaiming its former name and dropping the "MTN" logo abbreviation that it started using in 2009. The updated logo now also includes the year Mountain Dew was established — 1948 — and a citrus leaf dotting the "i."

"Born in the mountains, the distinctive citrus flavor of Mountain Dew propelled the brand to become a global cultural phenomenon, giving us a rich history to lean into as we reimagine the next 75 years of the brand," JP Bittencourt, VP of marketing at Mountain Dew, shared in a statement to Food Republic. "Mountain Dew is reclaiming the mountain with a new logo and visual identity that is synonymous with adventure, celebrating the great outdoors and embracing the 'DO THE DEW' spirit."

The new logo, designed by PepsiCo Design & Innovation, showcases the brand's iconic citrus-inspired colors and the soft angles of mountain peaks. It is meant to "evoke the refreshing taste of drinking a can of Dew" after a long day of hiking and exploring the great outdoors.

Created back in the 1940s in Tennessee, the original formula for Mountain Dew (which did not include flame retardant, despite the long-running soda myth) was bottled by brothers Barney and Ally Hartman, who ran a bottling company called Hartman Beverage Co. The pair invented Mountain Dew's distinctive flavor as a nod to 7 Up, and originally created it as a mixer for whiskey cocktails. At the time, sodas were mainly sold regionally, and their particular region lacked a lemon-lime flavor.

The original branding was very different from the Mountain Dew we know today. In fact, the soda's original logo featured a barefoot person holding a shotgun, and the drink was promoted throughout Southern cities like Knoxville, Tennessee; Marion, Virginia; and Johnson City, Tennessee.

In 1964, the Pepsi-Cola company acquired the Mountain Dew brand and subsequently revamped its look, shifting gears to appeal to a more adventurous and outdoorsy consumer. The brand's updated logo will begin to appear on shelves next summer — perhaps as early as May 2025.