Mello Yello

Mello Yello
Type	Citrus soda
Manufacturer	Coca-Cola Company
Distributor	Coca-Cola Company
Country of origin	United States
Introduced	1979
Related products	Mountain Dew Vault

Mello Yello in fountain at a Burger King restaurant

Mello Yello is a caffeinated, citrus-flavored soft drink produced and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company. It was introduced in 1979 to compete with PepsiCo's Mountain Dew. While it is greatly outsold by Mountain Dew, the product nonetheless allows Coca-Cola to have a presence in the citrus soft drink market segment.

There have been three flavored variants of Mello Yello. Mello Yello Cherry was released in response to Mountain Dew Code Red. The other two variants were peach-flavored Mello Yello Afterglow, and Mello Yello Melon. All three were only available for a limited time, and in limited markets.

Coca-Cola has released no plans to phase out Mello Yello.

Marketing

Mello Yello was introduced with the slogan "Mello Yello - The World's Fastest Soft Drink."[1] Early television advertisements touted the suitability of the beverage for quick consumption, with an actor (dressed in an auto racing uniform) downing an entire bottle within the time of the commercial.

Mello Yello sponsored Kyle Petty, a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver, from 1991-1994. Mello Yello also sponsored the fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway through 1994.

Mello Yello was featured in the NASCAR-based movie, Days of Thunder.

It is presumably named after the 1967 Donovan album and single, Mellow Yellow and, in fact, a cover of the song was used to promote this product.

In October 2006 Mello Yello was relaunched in New Zealand as a 'limited edition' after a long absence, of at least 15 years, from the local market. The New Zealand version contains the original 1980s logo, and when it was available in the 1980s even contains the words a product of the Coca-Cola Company on the label and on the bottle top. This 'limited edition' release is only available in 600ml and 1.5 litre plastic bottles and contains the words Limited Edition. Only 200,000 cases of the promo product were produced according to Coca Cola.

As Seen on TV

• In episode "Ain't no Business like Show Business" of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, two cans are sitting on a coffee table in front of the television set labeled "Metto Yetto".
• On the show Roseanne, Mellow Yellow is drunk frequently by the Conner family.
• In the Seinfeld episode "The Bottle Deposit" Part 1, Newman is surrounded by empty Mello Yello bottles while strategizing a way to make a profit off of Michigan's 10¢ bottle deposit refund.

Pop Culture

• Hip Hop artist MF Doom refers to Mello Yello in Beef Rapp, the first track on his album titled MM..Food?. The verse goes as follows: "It's a miracle how he get so lyrical, And proceed to move the crowd like an old Negro spiritual, For a mil do a commercial for Mello Yello, tell them devils 'hell no, sell y'all own jello.'"

Trivia

• Steven Aluminumstein, a notorious hacker who has stolen over $100,000 from a security hole in Paypal goes by the name 'MelloYello'.

External links

• Mello Yello brand information from Coca-Cola

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