PURCHASE, N.Y., July 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For the past three months, the country has been engaged in a passionate election that has changed the course of history forever: DEWcision 2016. Members of DEW Nation have cast their votes for either MTN DEW®  BAJA BLAST™ or MTN DEW PITCH BLACK™, two specialty flavors that developed cult followings over the years, and after months of voting and wild online challenges, the results are now in. With more than 2.9 million votes, PITCH BLACK has edged out BAJA BLAST by less than a half of a percent of the total 5,789,284 million votes. PITCH BLACK has won the election. And PITCH BLACK will become a permanent member of the MTN DEW retail lineup, making its debut on shelves this September.

"Over the course of DEWcision 2016, you, the members of the DEW Nation, pulled out all of the stops to show your passion for these two flavors," said Ryan Collis, senior director of marketing, Mountain Dew. "You dyed your hair. You built towers. You conquered mountains. Although there could only be one victor, you showed us that neither flavor was going to go out without a fight. And that's the relentless, unyielding, no-holds-barred spirit that DEW Nation stands for."

Fans cast their votes on DEWcision.com or Twitter by including one of the following hashtags in their tweets: #VoteBajaBlast or #VotePitchBlack. But to make their votes count for a little something extra, super delegates—or, fans—completed additional challenges. They built pyramids of PITCH BLACK. They color-blasted their hair green in the name of BAJA BLAST. And they bathed with their favorite flavors, posting the images to social media channels to proudly pledge their allegiance.

"No other brand puts more influence into the hands of its fans than Mountain Dew," said Collis. "For DEWcision 2016, we gave them the power. No cash prizes or fancy incentives, only the reward of their favorite flavor staying on shelves. And they far exceeded our expectations, proving a true example of brand love."

DEWcision 2016 kicked off in April with a national TV commercial featuring the DEW racing team – Kasey Kahne, Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr. – followed by the debut of three unique DEWcision paint schemes in the Sprint Cup Series race in Richmond, Virginia. DEW then brought the race and element of choice to life via a first-of-its-kind virtual reality gaming experience leveraging Oculus Rift. The campaign had a final push in New York City when a supreme manifestation of DEWcision appeared: The DEWggro Crag, powered by The Splat. The challenging climb up the half PITCH BLACK-purple, half BAJA BLAST-green mountain combined DEW Nation's love of competition with their love of 90s nostalgia by paying tribute to the Aggro Crag from the 90s game show GUTS.

About the Winning Flavor
MTN DEW PITCH BLACK is a bold flavor of DEW with a twist of citrus and dark fruit flavor, which was first released in October 2004 as a limited-edition Halloween flavor. It was resurrected in the summer of 2011 as part of the "Back by Popular DEWmand" program and, earlier this year, became exclusively available via fountain at Speedway stores nationwide.

About Mountain Dew 
Mountain Dew, a product of PepsiCo Americas Beverages, is the No. 1 flavored carbonated soft drink in the U.S. With its one-of-a-kind citrus taste, Mountain Dew exhilarates and quenches with every sip. In addition to original Mountain Dew® and Diet Mountain Dew®, the permanent DEW product line includes Mountain Dew Code Red®, Mountain Dew LiveWire®, Mountain Dew Throwback®, Mountain Dew Voltage® and Mountain Dew White Out®. For more information, check out www.mountaindew.com, www.facebook.com/mountaindew or follow on Twitter @mountaindew.

About PepsiCo
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $63 billion in net revenue in 2015, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

At the heart of PepsiCo is Performance with Purpose – our goal to deliver top-tier financial performance while creating sustainable growth and shareholder value. In practice, Performance with Purpose means providing a wide range of foods and beverages from treats to healthy eats; finding innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment and reduce our operating costs; providing a safe and inclusive workplace for our employees globally; and respecting, supporting and investing in the local communities where we operate. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com. 

CONTACT:

Kristen Mueller
914-767-7450
Kristen.Mueller@pepsico.com

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SOURCE PepsiCo