• by Danielle Oster , January 9, 2025

Mug Root Beer is asking fans whether they’ve “got that dawg in them,” and offering a way to find out.

The PepsiCo-owned root beer brand launched a campaign that includes a “Dawg DNA Kit” promotional giveaway, ostensibly providing a means for fan to test how much “dawg” they have in them. To get the word out, the brand teamed up with Vaynermedia on a “Genes with Gene” mock-geanology video to introduce the “Mug Root Beer Dawg DNA Kit,” with a little help from Mug’s canine mascot, Dog.

“Our followers inspired us to adopt the phrase ‘Got That Dawg In You?’ as the official slogan of Mug Root Beer, and they’ve been hounding our mascot Dog for dawg approval since. Now it’s our turn to uncover who the real dawgs are and welcome them into Dog’s pack,” Patrick Gamble, senior brand marketing manager for Mug Root Beer, said in a statement, adding the kit provides fans with “proof of their dawg status and the opportunity to own it with pride.”

The “Mug Root Beer Dawg DNA Kit”  launches on Mug Root Beer’s TikTok shop Jan. 10. Each kit includes a “dog drool” dropper to collect a human saliva sample, test card revealing the results (from 30% to 110% “dawg”), and a real at-home dog DNA kit for their canine companion (a $90 value, according to the brand) -- as well as a can of Mug Root Beer.  Mug will give away kits to the first 200 fans to purchase two 10-packs of the recently launched Mug Root Beer Mini Cans via the platform and enter a corresponding access code to redeem their complimentary “Dawg DNA Kit.”

Mug’s recent marketing centered its Dog mascot in unexpected ways. Like the current effort, last October’s “Fetch Mug, Get a Stick” promotional giveaway for National Fetch Day also featured some unusual brand merch, which Mug described as a “one-of-a-kind stick from Dog’s collection, preserved in epoxy and delivered alongside a certificate of authenticity and a personalized note from Dog himself.”