What happened to Mt Dew online?

Years ago life was good. Consumers were able to order online their one true love, Mountain Dew in glass bottles. Of course like all humorous jokes that start "Did you hear the one about the attorney" this one is not so funny.

California, known for its sunshine and crazy laws created one named Proposition 65. This law was to protect citizens from certain chemicals that the state considered "potentially cancerous". Thanks to this law just about everything in California is now slapped with a Prop 65 warning label.

So how does this impact Mt Dew in glass bottles you ask? Well thankfully a lawyer (not in California) but in the east coast decided he needed to protect the locals and chase down beverage manufacturers because of the possible violation of Prop 65 with some of their brands. Needless to say the beverage companies laid down on this one and paid some quick fines. Because of the outcome most of the nostalgic brands produced in glass bottles with painted logo exteriors got whacked and were no longer allowed to be sold online. Besides Mt Dew some of the other great brands to go down were Nehi, RC Cola and Dr.Pepper.

Hopefully there is a comeback story for Mt. Dew in something other than cans. Pepsi in their marketing efforts has started doing some unique things with their packaging. Although it may be a play on the always changing Jones Soda labels I think Pepsi is going in the right direction.

Check out this picture of Mt Dew Green Label Art packaging.


These new bottles are aluminum with shrink wrapped labels and totally cool. The word is that these bottles are currently available in a few select areas nationwide. Beverages Direct is working overtime trying to get some in house.

So don't give up hope as Mt Dew may once again be available online through Beverages Direct.

Is Tap Water Really Better than Bottled?

The debate will rage on for years about tap water vs. bottled water. There have been numerous postings by both sides each trying to make their case. So I thought I would spin my bottle on the issue and see where it stops.

Our local governments has tried for years to make their local waters sources “good enough” for us to drink by treating them with various chemicals. It must be understood that the tap water our local governments send to us through pipes, that average 50-100 years old, doesn’t start out as healthy. In fact, it starts out in a very “unhealthy” state. By treating the water with chemicals like chlorine, lime and sodium hexametaphosphate the water is then considered acceptable for drinking by EPA standards. However, the EPA standards, according to the Safe Drinking Water Act, does allow for certain contaminant levels. Side Note: On a whole less than 1% of municipal tap water is actually used for human consumption.

Bottled water companies such as Sparkletts®, Crystal Springs® or Hinckley Springs® couldn’t exist if they provided any level of contamination. All bottled water companies have numerous filtration and ozonation systems in place to ensure their bottled water is pristine. Not to mention bottled water companies also have to adhere to the more stringent guidelines of the FDA.

In the end, I personally do not believe this debate is even close. Bottled water is a lot better than the minimally tested, chlorinated, flocculated, fluoridated municipal tap water that is delivered through miles of aged piping. As for “green” issues, that is a more involved subject for another post. However, I still feel the 5 gallon home and office water delivery industry is the clear winner on quality.

Are We Going Back to the Pill?

Caffeine has been consumed for years in coffee and cola but it wasn't until No Doz hit the block, in the form of a pill, that a new caffeine delivery method was created. This simple caffeinated pill heightened societies quest to stay awake.

Although caffeine has been injected into just about everything from soap to mints I am going to concentrate on the caffeine evolution from a beverage perspective.

Take a look at this chart below:

The pill went liquid with Jolt Cola who doubled the caffeine level of the average 12 oz cola while Water Joe stripped out the impurities (sugar, preservative, etc) and just gave us the basics...water and caffeine. Average retail: $1.

From there the energy drink revolution took over and increased the amount of caffeine into a smaller 8.3 oz can but also "fortified" the drink with some good-for-you vitamins. It didn't take long before someone decided we needed even more caffeine and Super Sized (16-24oz) the 8.3 oz format. This larger can took off in sales but so did the amount of sugars and calories one had to injest just to achieve caffeine nirvana. Average retail: $2+.

Now the new kid on the block is trying to condense all the caffeine goodness into just 2 fluid ounces. It proclaims no sugars and minimal calories into a handy dandy little shot. Average retail: $3.

So will the 2 oz extreme shot hold out as the winner? Or, are we just one evolution step away from going full circle back into a $4 "super-charged" pill?

Nostalgia Provides for Some Good Memories

To say that internet browsing can pull up some interesting finds is an understatement. We all have childhood memories of commercials that ran on tv (sometimes in b&w). In fact we can probably still sing most of the jingles. Can you recite all the ingredients in a Big Mac? More specifically on the beverages side how about Coke teaching the world to sing, or the Kool Aid guy breaking down the wall, or even the deep voice of Geoffrey Holder as the Uncola guy?

Well we decided to create a special page dedicated to these old time classics. Although we may not sell all the items from these ads we do carry a few. For instance Nesbitts was recently brought back into production in 12 oz glass bottles. Although I do not remember the ads posted some of you may. The new product still tastes just as good.

We will continually be on the hunt for others ads as we build this walk down memory "tv commercial" lane. Have fun, share this page with others and don't forget to pay homage to our sponsors.

The Future of Jones Soda

Well - Peter von Stolk stepped down on Dec 5th of 2007, Jones Soda had a terrible quarter to compliment the two quarters before that, stock is down from a high of $32 to $3, Jim Cramer the infamous stock huckster is still not in jail, Jones Soda is still looking for a CEO replacement with "experience" and analysts still believe this is a long term play whose stock just got ahead of itself. Hmmmm!

I wish I could say the future looks bright for Jones Soda but unfortunately I am having trouble. In defense of Jones Soda I have always thought they were innovative to a point and fun at times to drink whether it was with high fructose corn syrup or pure cane sugar. The challenge that remains is cost/profitablity and the fact the Coke and Pepsi are not new to this game nor will they let someone enter their world. Monopolies are tough to break into. If Branson could not do it with Virgin Cola in cans how can Jones Soda?

Although I do not believe that Jones Soda is still the "little guy" they have a long way to go in a short period of time. Can they come back and finally make a profit? As Peter used to say on every conference call "We are excited about this new business model". Thoughts.

Water Joe - World's First Caffeinated Water

Water Joe was the first water in the marketplace to add a sole energy ingredient - caffeine. With such a unique twist on water only the media could bring this mixture to life. And that is what happened back in 1996. Water Joe became the media darling of almost every newscast, newspaper or magazine. In fact by the end of 1996 USA Today had named it Product Hit of Year and Wired Magazine appointed it to their Tired Wired Top 100. By 1997 there were 42 caffeinated waters being produced all with funky, edgy names. Each trying to get a foothold in the caffeinated water space. Sounds familiar?? It should. This story reads almost like the energy drink phenomenon that is taking place today.

Today after an ownership change and a few label renditions later Water Joe is pretty much the only one standing in strictly the "caffeine and water" category. It obviously still has its devoted fans as Water Joe ranks as the #1 best selling item on Beverages Direct. So why is it that after all these new caffeine enhanced products have entered into the market Water Joe is still around? The video below (filmed on the road in 1997) articulates it the best...because it still tastes just like water!

We'd love to hear if you think Water Joe can survive another 10+ years.