Hermitage, PA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/09/2008 -- When Mountain Dew launched its Green Label Art series in May of 2007 it was the first time a major carbonated soft drink (CSD) was offered to the North American consumer in an aluminum bottle.

According to representatives from Mountain Dew and CCL Container, the response to the 2007 Green Label Art Series was so positive that the brand once again asked artists to create designs for 2008.

Mountain Dew spokesperson, Nicole Bradley, explained that twelve distinctly different designs were launched in 2007, and another twelve are heading to the marketplace in 2008. “Six bottle designs were released nationally in February of 2008 and were available through early April. A new set of six designs will be released in August through October,” said Bradley.

Being involved in a packaging first is nothing new for CCL Container, North America’s leading producer of impact-extruded aluminum packaging. CCL received industry-wide recognition when it designed and produced the world’s first aluminum beer bottle. Since the debut of the “bottlecan” in 2003, CCL Container has been a driving force in the production of impact extruded aluminum bottles, which is how the brand managers for Mountain Dew came to CCL in the first place.

According to Bradley, the aluminum bottle provides the premium product feel the company wanted for their Mountain Dew brand, which held a 7.4% share of the CSD market at the end of 2007. But the fact that aluminum allows for 360° high-impact color graphics is what led the people at Mountain Dew to CCL. “Aluminum provides a perfect canvas for high impact graphics,” said Bradley. “CCL proved to be very flexible and accommodating of our needs on this project.”

The bottle used for Mountain Dew’s initiative is CCL’s 16 oz. "traditional" aluminum bottle style. However, CCL now offers “Full Body Shaping” for its aluminum bottles, allowing top-to-bottom custom shaping and product differentiation. And whatever shapes a CCL bottle can takes, marketers can choose from a variety of closure systems.

Aluminum bottles continue to increase in popularity within the beverage industry for more than their eye appeal. They are durable, resealable, and fast chilling; and are also 100% recyclable.

All of the Green Label Art bottle designs from 2007 and 2008 can be found on the Web site http://www.greenlabelart.com, which also features video clips that profile the Green Label Art artists. The clips highlight the various different approaches and applications the artists used to create the designs including: tattoo design, cut-and-paste materials, paint, charcoals and computer graphics. In addition, the Green Label Art site offers an interactive design tool and a tutorial for those interested in creating their own designs as well as details on several events across the country where the artists’ Mountain Dew bottle designs and other projects have been on display.

When asked if Pepsi faced any challenges in bringing the new Mountain Dew bottle cans to market, Bradley explained that being the first brand to launch a new package always presents challenges, but they were successfully met by a concerted effort from suppliers, co-packers and bottling partners. “The people at CCL were a big help,” said Bradley.

CCL Container is North America’s leading manufacturer of recyclable aluminum cans and bottles. The company’s manufacturing facilities are located in Hermitage, PA, Penetang, ONT and Mexico City, Mexico. All facilities are ISO 9002 Registered.

For more information about the Mountain Dew limited edition aluminum bottle series visit
http://www.greenlabelart.com.

For more information about CCL Container visit: http://www.cclcontainermedia.com.

For a downloadable version of this release and photos, please visit :
http://www.cclcontainermedia.com/pr/pr-md.html

For more information on CCL’s products and services, please contact:

Charlie Herrmann
Tel: (724) 981-4420
Fax: (724) 981-7226
CCL Container U.S. Operations:
One Llodio Drive
Hermitage, PA 16148