With all the buzz on the 'net around the announcement of Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback, some additional information has come to light by way of an alternate take on the label design and packaging.
Per some forum members at BevNET involved with Pepsi sales, we know that the retro flavors will be arriving in regular 20 oz. bottles with new labels. The Pepsi bottle uses the imprinted 'wave' pattern we first saw with the redesign of the Diet Pepsi line and introduction of Diet Pepsi Max in 2007.
Meanwhile, the Dew bottle maintains its vertical 'swirl' pattern. We saw these being used heavily last summer with the "DEWmocracy 3"... Mountain Dew Supernova, Mountain Dew Revolution, and Mountain Dew Voltage (by the way, Voltage won that vote).
Of interest, however, is that the label design might not follow the previous images filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. An internal promotional piece of artwork shared with the Pepsi Bottling Group illustrates a completely different look.
The Pepsi bottle showcases the logo design used from 1973-91, with the Pepsi font in non-italic sitting inside the two halves of what we now refer to as the Pepsi Globe. The light, baby blue color also makes a return as an accent in the background, which is prominently white, split between a red and blue bar. It's very 80s feeling, taking on the red/white/blue color scheme that Pepsi was known for before they claimed "blue" as their official color in 1998.
The label has a weathered look, reflecting the ****used during the Pepsi Retro campaign in Mexico last year. The phrase "Made with Real Sugar" adorns the top of the label, with "Refreshingly Retro" and "Limited Time Offer" in smaller print on the bottom. In fact, the "Refreshingly Retro" tagline seems to be something that Pepsi is running with here, given that it's the title of this trade piece. The last time Pepsi did a retro-themed bottle design for a mainstream product was 2004's Pepsi Holiday Spice, which was favorable accepted for its look, but apparently didn't sell well enough to warrant its return.
On the Mountain Dew side of things, we see a return to the 'box' logo used throughout the 1970s/80s. It has a bit of a rounded top/bottom to it, but still remains the logo most folks would remember (and references Pepsi's trademark filing for the Throwback lineup).
Instead of using the references Pepsi's trademark filing previously-noted font for "Throwback" which we saw with the patent office submission - which seemed to be the same font used in the controversial new Pepsi logo - PepsiCo has gone with more of a cartoony, upper-case font to denote "Throwback" under the traditional Dew logo. It's not a very integrated way to do it, but for the customer that this product is targeting, it probably doesn't matter. Like its Pepsi sibling, the phrase "Made with Real Sugar" adorns the top of the label, with "Refreshingly Retro" and "Limited Time Offer" sitting below the logo.
It should be noted that the bottom of the information provided to the Pepsi Bottling Group regarding the design of the Throwback products have the following disclaimer: "Visuals are directional only. Final executions may vary." So this might not be the final artwork. We will see!
Per a report by Serious Eats, the pricepoint for both of these products will be the same as regular high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) sweetened Pepsi and Dew. Their availability will be from April 20-June 13, which gives you just 54 days to enjoy sugar-sweetened goodness in these beverages. Is it any coincidence that the availability of these drinks just happens to be around Passover, traditionally the time when both Kosher Coke and Kosher Pepsi have been previously available? Hmmm....
One of the other questions being raised about these two new products is what kind of sugar is being used. For example, Jones Soda now headlines their products as being "Pure Cane Soda", listing "inverted cane sugar" as the primary sweetener in the ingredients. This has sparked some conflict as well regarding just what is considered "sugar" these days. In the case of the Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback lines, is pure cane sugar going to be used (which is preferred by beverage enthusiasts)? Or will beet sugar, which is cheaper and pulled from sugar beets, not exactly on the same level as cane sugar. These questions remain to be answered as we await this HFCS-free line of limited edition drinks.
( My Thought )
OK i whent to the gas sation to Pick Up the New Mountain Dew as i drink it seem Dif with the Tase Becase of the New Natural Suger is in it. the only dif i can tell is the tase of the Mountain Dew and Less Suger Rush to drink it. Mostly the dink not bad the only dif is the Soidum And Super G has changes, Now the New Mountain Has Little Less.As you Can Tell the Mountain Dew Logo is the Old School Retro 70's Look. The Drink is Not bad but i still like the Oringal Drink then this One with New Suger in it.