Mountain Dew, stylized as Mtn Dew in some countries, is a carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in 1940 by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman. A revised formula was created by Bill Bridgforth[1] in 1958. The rights to this formula were obtained by the Tip Corporation of Marion, Virginia.[2] William H. "Bill" Jones of the Tip Corporation further refined the formula, launching that version of Mountain Dew in 1961.[3] In August 1964, the Mountain Dew brand and production rights were acquired from Tip by the Pepsi-Cola company, and the distribution expanded across the United States and Canada.[4]
Between the 1940s and 1980s there was only one variety of Mountain Dew, which was citrus-flavored and caffeinated in most markets. Diet Mountain Dew was introduced in 1988,[5] followed by Mountain Dew Red, which was introduced and discontinued in 1988.[6] In 2001, a cherry-flavored variant called Code Red debuted. Expansions of the product line have continued to this day, including specialty offerings, limited time productions, region-specific and retailer-specific flavors of Mountain Dew.