From the first moment the green elixir touched his lips, Chris Whitley knew he was hooked on Mountain Dew. He was an 11-year-old kid on his way back from either BMX or baseball practice (he can’t remember which), and his dad bought him a can to try.
“I just liked it from the beginning,” Whitley told The Huffington Post. “I can’t really explain it, it’s just something that’s totally different.”
Whitley, 27, says he now drinks about 40 cans a week. He has several Mountain Dew-themed T-shirts and hats and closely follows Dale Earnhardt Jr., the NASCAR driver and Mountain Dew spokesman. “It’s pretty much a religious obsession for me, I guess,” said Whitley, who lives in Jackson, Mississippi. “I just don’t drink anything else.”
Fans like Whitley keep the sugary, caffeine-heavy soda Mountain Dew popular, even as Americans increasingly yearn for the healthy, natural food that is seemingly its opposite. U.S. soda sales have taken a dive in recent years. Mountain Dew parent company Pepsi and its rival, Coca-Cola, are hawking other products, such as sparkling water, energy drinks and snacks, to try and make up for sinking demand for their flagship sodas.
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Just ask Steven Kearney, 20, who has been drinking Mountain Dew since eighth grade and has a can or a bottle every day. Kearney says that one day he may have to consider how his habit is affecting his health. But that doesn’t mean he’ll give it up completely.
Kearney has a collection 80 of cans and bottles. Every time Mountain Dew releases a new flavor, he tries to keep one as a memento. He’s a host on the local college radio station in western Michigan and starts every show by cracking open a can. He even has a group of friends he calls “The Mountain Dew buddies.”
“I feel like it will definitely be something I’m going to drink for the rest of my life,” he said.
