September 23, 2005:
Last year, the Pepsi Company realized that half the planet based their existence on some not entirely justifiable sense of holiday cheer and created special soft drinks meant specifically to tickle our collective seasonal sappiness. While last year's Pepsi Holiday Spice had the right idea but the wrong formula (read: tasted like shit), its brother beverage, Mountain Dew Pitch Black, absolutely nailed it. I'm no fan of the Dew by any stretch, but the drink's dark hues and sleekly spooky packaging made it the definitive thirst-quencher of the 2004 Halloween season. I would've been satisfied were a mere repeat for this year, but Pepsi has done us one better -- they've given Mountain Dew Pitch Black its very own sequel!
Upon hearing about Mountain Dew Pitch Black II, I was thrilled. After reading a bit more about its impending release, I became a little depressed. See, chief Pepsi executives have quite literally credited Internet buzz surrounding the seasonal beverages for their return this year. They're a "cult" thing. This point is further validated from the fact that after last year review, a Pepsi employee (who seemed somewhat high on the chain) wrote in to clarify a few inaccuracies, but basically to say "thanks for the support." I was just one of thousands of sites that recognized the original Pitch Black's debut as a bona fide cultural event, and when a freakin' soda manages to inspire such commotion, there's no way its creators aren't going to take notice.
As Pepsi's peeps surveyed the mass web coverage of its seasonal offerings, there was a small glitch in the results. While sites like mine had championed the beverages as welcome additions to the holiday atmosphere, a larger number only pointed to them as "funky new drinks." I firmly believe that the original Pitch Black's connection to Halloween played a big part of its modest success, but there was apparently more evidence to support the idea that people liked it only for being "cool and different." The end result? Mountain Dew Pitch Black II has lost its father's holiday edge. Now it's just a wacky drink that comes out 'round October, targeted more at dorm room dwellers looking for something to wash down the Ramen with. Great for them, sucks for me.
The severing of Pitch Black II's birthright ties to Halloween are clearly shown in its marketing campaign -- namely The Pitch Black Experiment website (for archival purposes, see pic), with the emphasis being clearly placed on its cool factor as opposed to last year's ghoul factor. I'm not saying that it's the end of the world. "It's just soda." I know. I still think Pepsi would've been better served with creepy pumpkin graphics on every can, but even if they're decided against it, anything regarding Pitch Black is and forever will be a Halloween soft drink IN MINE EYES.
Available for only 90 days (and we're about a third of the way through as of this writing), Pitch Black II doesn't need any pumpkin graphics to look like a Halloween drink. The graphics on each box, can and bottle look appropriately life-threatening, cast with blacks, grays, greens and a color that, if we're stretching, could conceivably be considered orange. The public tends to prefer eating pretty things, but it's difficult to make any one kind of soda that much prettier than its cousins -- unless you make it clear or neon blue, endeavors that nearly sank Pepsi in previous years. Largely, the only chance a company has to make its soft drinks stand out lies within how they're packaged. Of everything currently littering the soda aisle, Mountain Dew Pitch Black II is the champ. I feel like I'm drinking out of Las Vegas and video games.
It wouldn't be acceptable for Pitch Black's sequel to change in name and sticker style only. No, they had to do something to its flavor to make it worthy of being called "II." The color remains unchanged from last year's version, with noticeable purple streaks that become even more noticeable when you turn a camera flash on 'em. The taste, however, is completely different. Last year's had a hint of subtlety, but Pitch Black II packs enough spooky sour power to classify it as the makings of a truly gourmet grape Fla-Vor-Ice. Along with all the other stuff they said during the beverage's pre-launch press blitz, Pepsi mentioned a shift towards the sour because trends indicated that this is what today's youth is looking for. Sour sodee. Stupid youth.
Sour sodee isn't that bad, actually. I know it sounds like something that'd give you a stomach ache, but I haven't hit that wall yet. Remembering that my own palette was once more inclined to slap hands with food that made me make raisin faces, I can understand Pepsi's direction. I'm not typically fond of any soda that doesn't go with chicken, but Mountain Dew Pitch Black II manages to be wholly different from any other soft drink on the market without being so different that you've no choice but to hurl on your dog after drinking it. I'm happy for the continuation of an edible legacy, and with any luck, King Pepsi will mandate a stronger bond with Halloween for Mountain Dew Pitch Black III.
