Every good product deserves a sequel. The grape flavored mountain dew is back but with a twist. It now has a sour bite. It's only available for 90 days which makes it out of production after October 2005.

Let me know what you think of Pitch Black II.

The black is back with a sour bite - but only through Halloween

PURCHASE, N.Y. - August 24, 2005 - Look out for the sour bite!

Pepsi-Cola North America today announced that it will launch Mountain Dew Pitch Black II for a ten-week period from now until November. It's Mountain Dew with a blast of black grape, a cool metallic silver label, and a brand name that consumers love. It's just like last year's highly successful limited-time offer, Mountain Dew Pitch Black, but this time, with a sour bite.

Mountain Dew Pitch Black II hits stores nationwide this week in 20-ounce bottles, two-liter bottles, and 12-packs of 12-ounce cans.

"Every great movie deserves a sequel. Consumers loved Mountain Dew Pitch Black and they wanted us to bring it back, but with something new," said Katie Lacey, VP-marketing, carbonated soft drinks, Pepsi-Cola North America. "Sour flavors are big right now with teens and young adults, so we added a sour bite to Mountain Dew Pitch Black II."

The rollout of the brand will be supported by eye-catching point-of-purchase materials created by TracyLocke, Wilton, Conn., Pepsi's longtime promotional marketing partner, and an internet marketing campaign created by Tribal DDB Dallas. The website, http://www.pitchblackexperiment.com, features a gangly redheaded character named Cliff who shows his devotion to the product by conducting a "Pitch Black Experiment" by living in total darkness for 90 days. Also, later this fall, NASCAR's Jeremy Mayfield will drive the Mountain Dew Pitch Black II paint-out car at the Nextel Cup race in Kansas City on October 9.

Purchase, N.Y.-based Pepsi-Cola North America (www.pepsi.com) is the $4 billion refreshment beverage unit of PepsiCo Inc. in the United States and Canada. Its U.S. brands include Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi ONE, Pepsi Edge, Wild Cherry Pepsi, Pepsi Twist, Pepsi Vanilla, Mountain Dew, Diet Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew Code Red, Mountain Dew LiveWire, Sierra Mist, Sierra Mist Free, Mug, Slice, Aquafina, Aquafina Flavor Splash, Aquafina Sparkling, Dole single-serve juices, Tropicana Juice Drinks and SoBe. The company also makes and markets North America's best-selling ready-to-drink iced teas and coffees via joint ventures with Lipton and Starbucks.

SOURCE: Pepsi-Cola North America