Mountain Dew’s don’ts

Power down: If Mountain Dew ends up causing cancer, boy am I in trouble. I drink that stuff daily.

As a fan of the soda, though, I have a request for the suits at Pepsi-Co: Stop making alternative flavors.

The soft drink giant just released Mountain Dew Voltage. It’s the latest in a long line of energetically titled Dews, including Code Red, LiveWire and Game Fuel, a limited edition Dew that tied into the launch of Halo III.

Voltage, billed as being “charged with raspberry citrus flavor and ginseng,” contains the same amount of caffeine as regular Mountain Dew, but falls short on flavor. Internet critics have compared it to Hubba Bubba bubble gum and blue raspberry Icee. In other words, it tastes like fruit-flavored sugar.

Voltage may turn out to be a success. PepsiCo launched a public campaign to choose the flavor. More than 350,000 votes were cast, with 42 percent choosing Voltage over Supernova and Revolution. All three were berry flavored.

Inspired stuff, I know.

Seriously, these alternative flavors weaken the brand, frustrate buyers like me, and at the end of the day, don’t taste that good. So please stop making them. I’ll drink to that.

Andy Rathbun

arathbun@heraldnet.com