“I think we know who to blame”: Explaining the Mountain Dew taste conspiracy principle
“Prepare for a new life-altering event soon.”
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The web is rife with conspiracy theories, the newest of which to hit the mainstream is that Mountain Dew flavors result in catastrophe. From the Pentagon pizza index to debates about superstar clones, on-line communities regularly search hidden connections.
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Fans observed that a number of the soda firm’s flavors appeared to line up with international tragedies. Soon, a principle emerged: Mountain Dew was someway predicting disasters by its taste releases.
Although the thought began small, people on social media helped unfold the idea in regards to the timeline of occasions. The coincidences piled up rapidly, fueling arguments that the model’s flavors have been linked to all the things from terrorist assaults to monetary collapse.
With the announcement of the corporate’s new “Dirty Mountain Dew Cream Soda” drink, the idea has begun circulating as soon as extra.
The supposed timeline of flavors and disasters
The first coincidence got here in May 2001, when Mountain Dew launched Code Red, a cherry-flavored soda with a vibrant purple colour. That identical yr, the September 11 assaults occurred. Some on-line theorists related the identify to the “code red” alert system used afterward by the Department of Homeland Security.
The sample appeared to proceed with the Baja Blast launch in 2004, being related with the tsunami later that yr that killed greater than 220K folks. Another was Voltage, which got here out in 2008 and was linked with the monetary disaster.
Even the patriotic Star Spangled Splash, launched in 2024, drew consideration as a result of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed that yr after being struck by a ship. Since Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner,” folks on-line claimed the discharge was greater than a coincidence.
@sluttycigarette tweeted, “Just saw someone post this insane conspiracy of something relating Mountain Dew to tragedies.” They shared a screenshot of the connections folks had made with this conspiracy principle.
Is there any fact to the conspiracy principle?
Despite its reputation, the Mountain Dew principle doesn’t maintain up below nearer inspection. For occasion, the Department of Homeland Security solely launched its color-coded “code red” system after 9/11, not earlier than. That alone weakens the concept that the soda foreshadowed the assault.
As Redditor u/Tebowtime195 defined, “A lot of the ‘theories’ are way off – Pitch Black originally released in 2004, way off of that cyber blackout. Maui Burst released several years before the fires. Star Spangled Splash released after the bridge collapsed. They’re all Olympic-sized reaches and correlation ≠ causation.”
u/EarthboundMan5 additionally identified, “Also with Star Spangled Splash, it released at the same time as Infinite Swirl, Freedom Fusion, and Liberty Chill, but there’s no ‘events’ for those flavors.”
Even Voltage appeared like a stretch. The Great Recession technically started in December 2007, practically a yr earlier than the soda turned broadly obtainable. In the case of Star Spangled Splash, the bridge collapse occurred about three months earlier than the flavour’s launch. The timeline reversed the prompt order of prediction.
Still, people do love a conspiracy principle, even whether it is in jest.
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