Mello Yello

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

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; it was speculated that Vault would be its successor.

[edit] Marketing

Mello Yello was introduced with the slogan "Mello Yello - The World's Fastest Soft Drink." Early television advertisements by Lori Wollman 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 1990 NASCAR-based movie, Days of Thunder.

It is presumably named after the 1967 Donovan album and single, "Mellow Yellow."

In October 2006 Mello Yello was relaunched in New Zealand as a 200,000 unit 'limited edition' after a long absence, of at least 15 years, from the local market. The New Zealand version contains the original 1980's logo and like when it was available in the 1980's even contains the words a product of the Coca-Cola Company on the label and on the bottle top, possibly just to avoid screenprinting costs for the lids just for a 200,000 release. This 'limited edition' release is only available in 600ml and 1.5 litre plastic bottles and contains the words Limited Edition. The promo stocks have been depleted since around early December 2006.

Mello Yello appears to have lost appeal in this day of "energy drinks" (usually contain high concentrations of sugar, Caffeine and Taurine. The NZ promotional site made a mention of "before Energy drinks".

[edit] Trivia

If you look closely in the Seinfeld episode The Bottle Deposit you can see Newman holding a Mello Yello bottle

Mello Yello also appears in the Pilot Episode of Friends, where several cans are on Monica's coffee table.

Ironically, both shows take place in New York City, where in real life the drink is almost nonexistent.

Mello Yello also appears in many episodes of the former ABC sitcom Step By Step.

In South Africa in the early 1980's the South African Police (SAP) vans were referred to as "Mello Yellos."

Mello Yello also appears in many episodes of the sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

[edit] External links

• Mello Yello brand information from Coca-Cola website
• Mello Yello New Zealand Promo site for the limited edition 80's re-release Now just redirects to the main coke.co.nz site.
• Mello Yello New Zealand Myspace Promo site
• Teleplay of The Bottle Deposit