Mello Yello
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| Type | Citrus soda |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | The Coca-Cola Company |
| Introduced | March 1, 1979 |
| Color | Chartreuse yellow |
| Flavor | Citrus |
| Variants |
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| Related products |
Vault Mountain Dew Surge (soft drink) Sun Drop |
Mello Yello is a highly-caffeinated, citrus-flavored soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company which was introduced on March 1, 1979 to compete with PepsiCo's Mountain Dew.
Mello Yello was withdrawn from Australia in the early 1990s, being replaced with the similar but uncaffeinated Lift.
There have been three flavored variants of Mello Yello in North America. Mello Yello Cherry was released in response to Mountain Dew Code Red. The other two variants were Mello Yello Afterglow (peach-flavored) and Mello Yello Melon. All three were only available for a limited time. Mello Yello Cherry is available at Coca-Cola Freestyle machines, and is still available in limited markets.
In early 2010, Coca-Cola announced new images of new packaging that it would be re-branding Mello Yello to resemble the packaging in 1979. This re-branding has included an expanded distribution of the product, into such areas of the United States that have not had the product in years such as the Northeastern United States and the Western United States. In 2011, Mello Yello began to replace Vault on Coca-Cola Freestyle machines.
Mello Yello was featured in the 1990 NASCAR-based movie Days of Thunder, in which Tom Cruise's character, Cole Trickle, drove a Mello Yello-sponsored car to victory in the Daytona 500, although the product name itself is never verbally mentioned in the movie. That livery went on to become a real NASCAR paint scheme the following year, when driver Kyle Petty drove with Mello Yello sponsorship in the Winston Cup Series. He ran four seasons (1991–1994) with the sponsor before switching over to Coors Light in 1995. Mello Yello was seen as a sponsor on die-cast toy and collectible cars for both the Days of Thunder #51 Chevrolet Lumina and Kyle Petty's #42 Pontiac Grand Prix. Mello Yello also sponsored the fall Winston Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway through 1994.
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