Post# 218 - Mountain Dew Pitch Black: The Can Is Mostly Empty - 6/30/2011

Dear Pepsi Folk,

When I purchased a twelve pack of your “Mountain Dew Pitch Black,” my daughter was with me.  Jane is too young to remember the last time this wonderfully grape-flavored Mountain Dew hit the market.  With Jane being a “Mountain Dew Superfan,” I promised to save her one.

You see, I drive a rig across the country.  I rely on your caffeinated beverages to keep me on the road, and to help me to keep on truckin’.  Standard procedure is to load my twelver into the mini-fridge along with a full pound of thinly sliced deli turkey (for samiches) and six breakfast bars.  I throw four Milky Way Midnights in the fridge (for snacktime).   Once, I accidentally bought the caffeine-free version.  Was this some sort of practical joke? 

More than caffeine, the beverages give me a goal—something to work toward.  Since I get paid on a per-trip basis and need to cover my costs, I drink one per twelfth of my trip.  Sometimes that equates to once per 750 miles.   Because I was saving the last one, I would skip one of my reward zones.

This past trip, I drove to Boulder and back.  By Peoria, my eyes were droopy.  I was dreaming.  I kept thinking about that last Mountain Dew.  It was calling my name.  Then I would think of Janey, and I would resist.

When I pulled up by the house, I was beat.  My wife, Stephanie, and Janey greeted me right in the street.  Lorraine had fried four whole chickens and made homemade mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and corn bread.  What a feast!  Jane hugged me for what seemed like a full minute—she missed me.  Then, she looked at me, as if to say, “alright, Daddy, where is my Mountain Dew Pitch Black?”  I reached into my mini-fridge and grabbed it.  As I was handing it off, it felt light.  Like almost empty.

Janey ran and cried—she locked herself in the bathroom.  She thought I ripped her off.  Instead of making sweet, sweet love to Stephanie with a bellyful of chicken, I spent the whole night talking Janey out of that bathroom.  My night and my weekend was ruined.

What gives?  Is this some sort of cost savings idea?  Skimp on one of the twelve cans?  Can I expect two if I get the24 pack?  It’s not like there was residue in my mini-fridge.  None of the cans from the 12-pack was sticky from a leaky can.  Don’t they check weight of the packages down at the Pepsi Bottler?

Here’s some info: if a normal can weights 12.25 oz, this one weighs 3.0 oz.  The bottom of the can reads “NOV 7 2011  2237HC 05031MI10c”  There is a tiny pinhole about 5 mm above the barcode, between the words “INDEPENDENT” and “AUTHORITY.”

If this is some new idea, I think it absolutely stinks.  My daughter wrote a story for her class about what a disappointment I was.  Right on the front cover, she drew herself with a sad face. 

I don’t really know what else I can do for you.  This is really messed up.

Thanks for nothing!

Jerry
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On Mon, 7/4/11, noreply@pepsi.com <noreply@pepsi.com> wrote:

Subject: A Message from PepsiCo Consumer Relations 012748087B
Date: Monday, July 4, 2011, 10:00 AM

Dear Jerry,

Thank you for contacting us about the issue you had with one of our products. We're grateful for your assistance in our quality assurance efforts.

I am so sorry that your daughter was so upset about the empty can. I'm sure she realizes that you didn't rip her off and as hard as it is for a child to understand, sometimes things can happen that are out of your control. It sounds like the product leaked out of the can. I'm not sure if that happened at the plant or at the store.

Please know that I've shared the information you provided with the appropriate bottling facility. I've also mailed out a few complimentary coupons for your inconvenience. I was able to get a hold of a Mountain Dew T-Shirt (we only had an adult medium size) for Jane. I sent that too. They should arrive in about a week to 10 days.

I hope this helps with your situation. Thanks for writing and have a great day!!

Fondly,

Dee Dee
Consumer Relations Representative

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012748087B

{\i DID YOU KNOW ... *** All of Pepsi-Cola’s plastic soft-drink bottles contain an average of 10% recycled plastic, and the average aluminum can contains 40% to 50% recycled aluminum. ***}

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Post # 175 - Mountian Dew Typhoon Part II: Positive Spin 5/16/2010

I decided I was underwhelmed with Pepsi's reponse to my previous, negative letter so I wanted to try from a different angle.
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Dear Mountain Dew,


As a fourth year student in business school, all of my focus is on a career in marketing. I spend hours watching television commercials, leafing through print ads, and online, researching web ads. I love researching ads from the past. From the fifties, right up to those goofy nuns chugging Doctor Pepper back in the late 1970’s. With old ads, you have the advantage of history—to know what worked and what didn’t, and possibly why.

I’ve concluded that today’s advertising in the United States, has become far too watered down, politically correct, and too neutered. Aside from a company like Axe, who sells their product as a means to “get chicks”, everything else has become so vanilla, so dull.

When I saw your DEWmocracy promotion, I about fell out of my chair. I couldn’t believe my eyes--a big company who is actually willing to name their product after a typhoon. “Well”, I said, “that is something else”.

Mountain Dew Typhoon is bold. It’s brash. On some level, it’s insensitive, but that’s okay once in a while. I’m sure; initially there will be some backlash—probably from the Chinese government. However, as you and I both know, media attention, good or bad, equates to free publicity.

By stirring the pot, Pepsi creates attention. Attention leads to consumer interest, which leads to Coke dollars winding up in the Pepsi coffers. It starts with the foreign country-hating subset. It continues with the Weather Channel Slappies who DVR the storm season coverage. When someone raises too big of a stink, you throw $200,000 into a newly formed Pepsi Typhoon Relief Fund, and spin your product as “designed to create awareness”. More cheap publicity, more Coke dollars from human interest fans.

I’m going to be loosely basing my final dissertation on your product. Since we are required to “invent” a product for our case study, I’m creating a Tsunami Energy Drink. Same idea—let the consumers pick it from three choices. Market it heavily, weather the backlash, kick off the relief fund, and reap all of the profits along the way. When consumer interest dies down in 14-18 months, make it quietly go way, just in time for the next promotion.

I have a few more questions:

1) Was Typhoon the idea of one person, or does the whole Marketing Team share credit? I was just wondering if there’s a new whiz kid around there. It’s so different and far out compared to your past work.

2) Were other natural disasters considered? (volcano, tornado, monsoons, etc.)? Just wondering what the thought process was for name selection.

Any information that you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Thank You,

Stephan Mariendo
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No Response

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Post # 112 - Mountain Dew Typhoon: Pepsi Names Its Flavors After Natural Disasters - 5/11/2010

Dear Pepsi,


I take great offense to one of the candidates in your latest DEWmocracy campaign. There are three flavors: White Out, Distortion, and the topic of this letter: Typhoon.

I’m sure you’re trying to have fun with the names, and it can be fun to pretend, when you sip, you’re in the middle of a fun, refreshing typhoon. A typhoon or tropical storm is a tropical cyclone that forms in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. That sounds really refreshing.

Well, it isn’t.

As Typhoon survivor, I need to stand up and say “Wait a second!” Watching people around you die isn’t my idea of refreshment.

In 1984, Typhoon Ike, in the Phillipines, killed over 1400 people and left almost 500,000 homeless. In 2010 dollars, it caused almost $2.1 billion in damage. The Swatow typhoon in China resulted in around 60,000 deaths in 1922. The Super Typhoon Nina in China which contributed to the Banqiao Dam failure, resulted in over 200,000 deaths in 1975. Tasty? I think not.

But I get it—those things didn’t happen “here”. They happened “over there”.

Seeing a spiraling vortex suck your neighbor’s cow, and your uncle’s VW Rabbit isn’t any kind of picnic. Losing your home isn’t something that should be trivialized by stamping the cause on the side of a beverage container.

Marketing people can be brilliant at times, and at other times, so short-sighted. Open your eyes Pepsi!

That is all.

Jerry
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From: noreply@pepsi.com

Subject: A Message from Consumer Relations 012330204A
Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 11:00:21 -0400

Dear Jerry,

Thank you for taking the time to email us at Pepsi about Mountain Dew Typhoon. We appreciate your comments and, I assure you, we attach a great deal of importance to the views of our consumers.

For that reason, we sincerely regret that the name of this product offended or upset you. That was certainly not our intention.

It's extremely important to us at Pepsi that our produts serve to enhance the positive image that's helped place our brands among the world's most popular consumer products. If we should miss the mark, we need to know about it, which is why I intend to pass along your comments to our ad team. I want them to be aware of your opinion as they discuss future offers.

Thanks again for taking the time to email us and for sharing your constructive comments.

Dennis Dowd
Consumer Relations Representative
012330204A
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My 5/12/2010 Response,

Dear Dennis,

It sounds like you are taking this seriously. What will happen if Typhoon wins the DEWmocracy election? Will they pull it? How will the Pepsi Spin Doctors handle it?

Do the right thing!

Jerry
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My response, dated 5/13/2010




Dennis,

If you and I can’t agree that naming a refreshing soft drink after a tragic natural disaster in a third world country is stupid, then we don’t have much left to discuss.

The Marketing Team, the folks to whom you’re presenting my feedback, are feeling high and mighty about their Typhoon idea. You may need to go over their heads. You may need to blaze a trail.

I’m a bottom-line guy. Let me know when you’ve succeeded.

Thanks again.

Jerry

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