• Brandweek, Monday, June 14, 2010 10:36 AM

After a period of very mellow marketing -- virtually no spending at all last year, according to Nielsen -- Coca-Cola is expanding the distribution of its Mountain Dew competitor, Mello Yello, and is rolling out redesigned cans that look a lot like the original that first appeared in 1979, Elaine Wong reports.

Out-of-home, radio and digital ads will support the effort, which is targeted to teens and young adults, as well as older consumers who may remember the brand's original packaging. One outdoor execution is a twist on British singer-songwriter Donovan's signature line: "They call me Mello Yello."

Peter Clarke, CEO of brand strategy and design firm Product Ventures, tells Wong that re-launch fits right in with a trend of consumers gravitating away from things with an edge and toward the comfortable, familiar and simple. "People are retreating like Thoreau did to Walden Pond," he claims.

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