Mountain Dew is great until it completely rots out all your teeth

There used to be a joke in corporate America that if you heard Mike Wallace mention your brand name, it wouldn't be a good day. As Pepsi found out last week, it's not much better when it's Diane Sawyer.
  As part of a series on impoverished Americans living in Appalachia, ABC News aired a segment on an oral ailment with the oh-so-memorable name of "Mountain Dew Mouth." The producers came across Dr. Edwin Smith of Barbourville, Ky., who's sunk $150,000 of his own money into a mobile dental office to treat kids whose teeth have rotted to the gumline thanks to their copious consumption of Mountain Dew. Before a national audience, Smith related stories of babies "doing the Dew" thanks to mothers who put the stuff in their bottles, and teenagers pulling their teeth with pliers because of the pain.
  That was last Thursday. You can imagine the kind of morning the PR folks in Purchase, N.Y., had on Friday. But the ensuing response to the PR fiasco was, well, another PR fiasco. First came a statement saying it was wrong to blame decay on the Dew, because raisins and cookies stay in the mouth longer. Strike one. Next came a statement saying PepsiCo soft drinks "consumed in moderation can be part of a healthy, balanced diet." Strike two. Finally, a third release said PepsiCo vp of global health Dr. Derek Yach had phoned the dentist to find out how the company could help. That, it seems, was more like it.
  Note to brands: When a national news show accuses your product of hurting 11-year-old boys who are too poor for shoes, the only solution is to write a check.

—Posted by Robert Klara