In August 2012, Mountain Dew launched an online campaign called "Dub the Dew" to let the internet name a new apple-flavored soda. Within hours, internet trolls hijacked the submission portal, flooding it with offensive, absurd, and intentionally shocking suggestions. The top vote-getter quickly became "Hitler Did Nothing Wrong," creating one of the most infamous public relations disasters in modern corporate history.
This incident remains a textbook case study in the risks of unmoderated crowdsourcing. It exposed the vulnerabilities of major brands engaging with anonymous online communities like 4chan and changed how corporations handle public voting campaigns forever.
How the "Dub the Dew" Campaign Began
In the summer of 2012, PepsiCo subsidiary Mountain Dew wanted to engage younger demographics by crowdsourcing a name for a green apple-infused variant of their green-tinted beverage. They created a simple, unmoderated microsite where users could type in a proposed name and vote on existing submissions.
The mechanism had no content filter at launch, nor did it require verification to vote. Anyone could type anything into the submission box, and any suggestion that gained enough community traction could rise to the top of the leaderboard. For a brief period, corporate enthusiasm outpaced basic digital safety protocols.
The Hijacking and the Rise of Offensive Names
Users from imageboards and forums quickly noticed the complete lack of oversight. What started as humorous or lighthearted joke names rapidly escalated into an organized raid designed to embarrass the brand.
Within days, the leaderboard was dominated by inflammatory entries. Alongside "Hitler Did Nothing Wrong," top submissions included "Gushing Granny," "Diabeetus," "Fapple," and "Moist Nugget." The juxtaposition of wholesome corporate marketing with extreme shock humor caused the poll to go viral across social media.
"Dub the Dew" demonstrated what happens when a massive consumer brand gives anonymous internet subcultures an unmoderated megaphone.
The Winning Entry and Immediate Backlash
By August 14, 2012, "Hitler Did Nothing Wrong" was sitting comfortably at the number one spot on the official voting page. Screenshots of the leaderboard spread across Reddit, Twitter, and news outlets, forcing PepsiCo to shut down the campaign entirely.
The company pulled the site offline and issued statements distancing itself from the results. While no actual product named after the dictator ever hit store shelves, the digital footprint left a permanent mark on internet folklore.
Corporate Fallout and Digital Risk Management
The Mountain Dew incident forced marketing departments across industries to reevaluate how they interact with consumers online. Prior to 2012, crowdsourcing campaigns were treated as free, organic marketing goldmines. Afterward, companies realized that unmoderated participation open to the public is an open invitation for malicious trolling.
- Pre-Moderation Filters: Modern brand campaigns almost exclusively use curated lists of choices or run text-filtering algorithms before submissions go public.
- Identity Verification: Requiring login credentials, CAPTCHAs, or proof of purchase helps eliminate bot-driven raids and casual trolls.
- Legal and PR Safeguards: Terms of service now explicitly reserve the right for brands to disqualify entries at their sole discretion.
Cultural Legacy and Similar Internet Raids
The "Dub the Dew" disaster sits in a long lineage of internet polls hijacked by trolls. Similar incidents occurred when Greenpeace asked the public to name a newborn whale and users voted for "Mr. Splashy Pants," or when Taylor Swift was nearly voted to perform at a school for the deaf.
Unlike those harmless pranks, the Mountain Dew raid crossed into hate-speech territory, making it a unique cautionary tale about the limits of corporate democratization on the web. It proved that internet culture values chaos and subversion far more than corporate synergy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was a Hitler Mountain Dew soda ever actually sold?
No. PepsiCo shut down the website and scrapped the campaign before any beverage was manufactured or bottled under that name.
Who was responsible for the prank?
The campaign was hijacked primarily by users from online message boards, most notably communities associated with 4chan, who coordinated voting efforts to disrupt the corporate poll.
How did Mountain Dew respond?
The company immediately took down the microsite, deleted all submissions, and issued public apologies while tightening security and moderation protocols for future digital marketing initiatives.
What happened to the apple-flavored drink?
The green apple variant eventually saw a release under a different, safe promotional campaign, divorced entirely from the crowdsourced naming fiasco.
