MovieChat Forums > Bonanza (1959) Discussion > Mountain Dew

Mountain Dew

posted 8 years ago by Grazie_Noel_63
4 replies | jump to latest

I just watched Three Brides for Hoss (1966), and two brothers of one of the erstwhile brides were reminiscing about the good ol' days in 'Tucky, and in particular what they referred to as "Mountain Dew." They repeated the name three times, which made it occur to me that this was actually product placement in the script.

The very first color Mountain Dew commercial was also from 1966:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_eSUBotF64

I'd be willing to bet Mountain Dew was a corporate sponsor of Bonanza (1959), and that the commercial made its television debut accompanying that episode. 

§ "Precisely the point of a lonnnng dinin' table."

[–] grizzledgeezer 8 years ago

Mountain Dew was originally an "independent" soft drink. The commercial shows that, by 1966, PepsiCo had gained control.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Dew

I doubt a company would pay merely for product placement, without having a commercial.

[–] davebuffalo (3018) 3 years ago

I doubt a company would pay merely for product placement, without having a commercial.

--- This happens all the time.

[–] chambers112 8 years ago

Mountain dew is slang for moonshine.

meg.

[–] Grazie_Noel_63 8 years ago

Of course it is. But it's also the name of a soft drink, advertised in 1966. Quite often, the characters in shows were used to plug the products of sponsors (think the Flintstones advertising for Winston cigarettes, or Rod Serling breaking the fourth wall to pitch a product on The Twilight Zone).

§ "Precisely the point of a lonnnng dinin' table."