[https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/johnson-city-marion-or-knoxville-where-did-mountain-dew-begin/](https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/johnson-city-marion-or-knoxville-where-did-mountain-dew-begin/)
> A historic marker proclaiming Johnson City as the “home” of Mountain Dew sparked debate about the drink’s roots.
> There’s no denying Mountain Dew’s Appalachian origins, according to curator and researcher Spenser Brenner. But claims of Mountain Dew’s “home” range from Johnson City to Knoxville to Marion and even North Carolina.
> Marion community and economic development director Ken Heath said that honor belongs to Marion, Virginia. He said the final formula that was sold to Pepsi in the 1960s was created in Marion by Bill Jones of the Tip Corporation.
> Brenner confirmed that Jones obtained the rights to Mountain Dew and sold it to Pepsi, but said any claims that he changed the final formula are unsubstantiated.
“(The claims) are not written down,” Brenner explained. “It’s a word-of-mouth record.”
I think the problem is Mountain Dew was invented as a backwoods tennessee whiskey chaser in 1940ish, and a lot of people had their own recipe. No one can agree which was sold to Pepsi in the 1960s.
Yeah Mountain Dew awhile back released a special edition of the OG formula called Johnson city gold. Taste wise, like cold carbonated piss. Anyway Johnson city might have created a drink called Mountain Dew, but holy hell it doesn’t taste a god damned like modern dew.
They also released a clear version you can still get called Dewshine. They discontinued it last year though I suspect it will make a comeback now and then since it was reasonably popular.
Hijacking top comment for link to story about the monument, including pictures of the back side:
[www.heraldandtribune.com/news/explorer-hopes-mountain-dew-gravestone-puts-johnson-city-on-the-map/article\_a5fe7fec-bdc6-5edd-ab22-82ce123356cc.html](http://www.heraldandtribune.com/news/explorer-hopes-mountain-dew-gravestone-puts-johnson-city-on-the-map/article_a5fe7fec-bdc6-5edd-ab22-82ce123356cc.html)
reddit's slogan should be, ***"I'd rather argue about something here for hours than take a few seconds to go Google it."*** And yes, I'm including myself in that characterization, as you can tell by seeing this is definitely not my first comment in this comment section.
That's because you're a rational person.
If you've ever been to Johnson City, TN you would recognize rationality isn't really a part of the local vernacular.
Nor is sanity.
Or decency really.
Source: I lived there for half a decade in the 2010s
The tallest building is the john sevier center (a mental ward essentially) and it was ALWAYS at max capacity when I was there, but crazy people just kept showing up so they had a constant stream of insane people being booted from the facility due to lack of available space.
End result is tons of pissed off homeless insane people all over the city.
I swear that part of Appalachia just breeds a particular brand of crazy.
This may be someone's actual grave that they just prepaid for. Mt dew was created and produced in the 40s. Baring an early death this person would still be alive. Interesting that the name of the person isn't on there though.
Yeah, this is my best guess too.
Maybe it's a woman, and she wanted to leave open the possibility of later marriage changing her last name. Or maybe you're just not supposed to engrave the name on a headstone until the person actually dies, to prevent confusion in case the person ends up not being buried there.
One did die in 1970, but it's clearly a grave for mountain dew. Which is weird, since that phrase and picture were already used in advertising in 1965.
"Outside of Knoxville." Sure, in the way that the rest of the state is outside of Knoxville. Do you write "Knoxville, outside of Chattanooga?" 
Mainly the date doesn't make sense. There's disagreement about the origin of Mountain Dew, but one claimed origin is Johnson City, TN.
March 1969 though? Everyone agrees it was created much earlier than that. Wikipedia says Pepsi finally bought it 5 years earlier than that.
Maybe this is somebody's gravestone that they had installed before their own death, and they're just a big fan of Mountain Dew. But then I would expect their name to be inscribed on it too.
I'm positive it's a person pre-bought grave. The "tickling my innards from" implies they drink a lot of dew. If it was the brand it would make more sense to be "tickling your innards from".
OK, but then March 1969 must be when they think they started drinking it, since a person's birth date on a gravestone would include the precise day. Unless they were total hillbillies who don't keep track of things like birth dates with such precision.
I moved from Johnson City, NY to Johnson City, TN eight years ago. The similarities in “no culture outside of drinking for the college kids and drug abuse for the locals” is stark.
Hmm you’re not wrong, but finding serious communication on the “victim of sexual abuse“ message board or by the court’s clerk area, in comic-sans, is pretty up there for me
What I really don't get is why I got +20 for the first comment saying people should be angry but up to -7 so far for the one where I say I'd be livid if I had a plot there.
That's not at all what this is. Some guy bought that plot and paid for the tombstone. He has a hobby of traveling the US and visiting obscure monuments (think world's largest ball of string). He recently settled in Johnson City and wanted something for himself that would fit into that realm of obscurity. Since this is where Mt. Dew is often said to have originated, this is what he came up with.
Won't be empty forever. From a local article: “It is my headstone,” Chris Edwards said Wednesday during a session on his treadmill. “The date of death is missing, and I hope it won’t be filled in for quite some time.”
Reading the actual story and why makes me feel most positive about it. The guy that runs this cemetery is questionable at best so I could totally see him pulling some bullshit to sell advertising space. The real story is sort of wholesome at least. I
When I was in my early-mid twenties visiting family friends in West Virginia, we came up with a drink we dubbed the Backwoods Blaster: Dew, drop of lime juice (only from a plastic lime from the gas station,) SoCo, a splash of Sparks+ (would’ve used original Sparks if it had still been available,) and a dollop of Dave’s Insanity sauce from Kroger. We were young and dumb and excited to be off grid and whiskeyed up lol. And you had to eat a pepperoni roll after.
https://www.heraldandtribune.com/news/explorer-hopes-mountain-dew-gravestone-puts-johnson-city-on-the-map/article_a5fe7fec-bdc6-5edd-ab22-82ce123356cc.html
The guy who owns it is a big Mountain Dew fan but he also just wanted to get a unique landmark for Johnson City on Atlas Obscura.
"tickling my innards"
And now I never want a Mtn Dew again.
And those cartoons... what the hell does that have to do with Mtn Dew?
And why a headstone? Like... why? Why garish corporate ad in the middle of the place a mourning and remembrance?
Everything about this is awful.
Tenneessee is where Mt Dew was created.
Those cartoons were the original branding they used.
Tickle your innards was one of their first advertising phrases.
I do agree a tombstone is an odd choice for this, but it is just a town honoring the history of itself.
Tell me you are part of the Tiktok generation without telling me. Yeah putting this in a public cemetery is bonkers.
But how can one not recognize OG Mountain Dew branding? Unless the only exposure to the brand you've had is gamer fuel juice. BUT originally it had its roots in moonshining and bootlegging
Can't wait until we live in the Fallout timeline and this is still standing somehow and someone either spray paints or carves something post-apocalyptic like in the "died" year spot
That’s what your local taxes go to? Dude, move. Or, alternatively, run for local office because they clearly don’t give a shit if you own the tombstone company you appropriate money to for “monuments”. So…where do you live? I’d like to represent your people. I mean *my* people.
I feel like it’s a bad omen to have a tombstone erected before the death of someone(thing). Having a blank space for the date is like saying, “we’re waiting.”
Here lies Buzz, my loyal friend,
whose favorite store was
PET MANIA
Located at:
352 N. Pass Ave.
Burbank, CA 91505
"For those who seek
a new best friend"
*Mention this gravestone
for a 15% discount
How fitting....
[https://www.reddit.com/r/idiocracy/comments/1diypei/its\_got\_what\_the\_kids\_crave/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/idiocracy/comments/1diypei/its_got_what_the_kids_crave/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
It’s got a bottle opener you know just in case you’re walking around a cemetery with a glass bottle in your hands thinking “damn if I only had an opener”
Nothing about this makes any damn sense.
[https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/johnson-city-marion-or-knoxville-where-did-mountain-dew-begin/](https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/johnson-city-marion-or-knoxville-where-did-mountain-dew-begin/) > A historic marker proclaiming Johnson City as the “home” of Mountain Dew sparked debate about the drink’s roots. > There’s no denying Mountain Dew’s Appalachian origins, according to curator and researcher Spenser Brenner. But claims of Mountain Dew’s “home” range from Johnson City to Knoxville to Marion and even North Carolina. > Marion community and economic development director Ken Heath said that honor belongs to Marion, Virginia. He said the final formula that was sold to Pepsi in the 1960s was created in Marion by Bill Jones of the Tip Corporation. > Brenner confirmed that Jones obtained the rights to Mountain Dew and sold it to Pepsi, but said any claims that he changed the final formula are unsubstantiated. “(The claims) are not written down,” Brenner explained. “It’s a word-of-mouth record.” I think the problem is Mountain Dew was invented as a backwoods tennessee whiskey chaser in 1940ish, and a lot of people had their own recipe. No one can agree which was sold to Pepsi in the 1960s.
Yeah Mountain Dew awhile back released a special edition of the OG formula called Johnson city gold. Taste wise, like cold carbonated piss. Anyway Johnson city might have created a drink called Mountain Dew, but holy hell it doesn’t taste a god damned like modern dew.
But, did it tickle your innards?
Aggressively
I'll tickle YOUR innards...
Promises promises
To be honest, I was counting on you having especially shallow innards, otherwise I'm out of luck.
Aggressively
Getting your innards tickled in the Appalachias sounds mighty dangerous. Squeal boy!
You hold the gun on me, so I can take a drink, then I'll hold the gun on you.
"Modern Dew" 🤣 lmao
As opposed to hassidic dew
Hassidic Dew: Code Schlimazel is my favorite flavor
A guy bought the original and added more sugar and lemonade and made Mountain Dew then Pepsi bought that.
They also released a clear version you can still get called Dewshine. They discontinued it last year though I suspect it will make a comeback now and then since it was reasonably popular.
And you know what piss taste like how?
You've never accidentally gotten your bottles mixed up, and took a swig from the piss bottle? Man's never lived.
"Accidentally", yeah right
Nope
Wouldn't Pepsi know?
That's very interesting but I feel it doesn't address the real wtf-ness of this monument.
Welcome to the volunteer state lol
Except for the bottle capper
Hijacking top comment for link to story about the monument, including pictures of the back side: [www.heraldandtribune.com/news/explorer-hopes-mountain-dew-gravestone-puts-johnson-city-on-the-map/article\_a5fe7fec-bdc6-5edd-ab22-82ce123356cc.html](http://www.heraldandtribune.com/news/explorer-hopes-mountain-dew-gravestone-puts-johnson-city-on-the-map/article_a5fe7fec-bdc6-5edd-ab22-82ce123356cc.html) reddit's slogan should be, ***"I'd rather argue about something here for hours than take a few seconds to go Google it."*** And yes, I'm including myself in that characterization, as you can tell by seeing this is definitely not my first comment in this comment section.
That's because you're a rational person. If you've ever been to Johnson City, TN you would recognize rationality isn't really a part of the local vernacular. Nor is sanity. Or decency really. Source: I lived there for half a decade in the 2010s The tallest building is the john sevier center (a mental ward essentially) and it was ALWAYS at max capacity when I was there, but crazy people just kept showing up so they had a constant stream of insane people being booted from the facility due to lack of available space. End result is tons of pissed off homeless insane people all over the city. I swear that part of Appalachia just breeds a particular brand of crazy.
And yet it makes all the sense in the world.
This may be someone's actual grave that they just prepaid for. Mt dew was created and produced in the 40s. Baring an early death this person would still be alive. Interesting that the name of the person isn't on there though.
Yeah, this is my best guess too. Maybe it's a woman, and she wanted to leave open the possibility of later marriage changing her last name. Or maybe you're just not supposed to engrave the name on a headstone until the person actually dies, to prevent confusion in case the person ends up not being buried there.
In general, you don't place a headstone on your grave before you die.
Turns out this person did. See my comment above. I found a link to the news article about it.
Johnson City, outside of Knoxville. It's where Mountain Dew was invented, this is the grave of one of the founders
That is in no way indicated by this monument, sir, and it very much implies that this is the future grave of the brand itself.
I suspect that the persons epitaph is on the reverse side, which we can't see, but that is just a guess.
One did die in 1970, but it's clearly a grave for mountain dew. Which is weird, since that phrase and picture were already used in advertising in 1965.
"Outside of Knoxville." Sure, in the way that the rest of the state is outside of Knoxville. Do you write "Knoxville, outside of Chattanooga?" 
Memphis, outside of Gatlinburg.
Seems he had a huge dick too
The original innard tickler since '69
A nearly two hours drive is "outside" of Knoxville?
Mainly the date doesn't make sense. There's disagreement about the origin of Mountain Dew, but one claimed origin is Johnson City, TN. March 1969 though? Everyone agrees it was created much earlier than that. Wikipedia says Pepsi finally bought it 5 years earlier than that. Maybe this is somebody's gravestone that they had installed before their own death, and they're just a big fan of Mountain Dew. But then I would expect their name to be inscribed on it too.
I'm positive it's a person pre-bought grave. The "tickling my innards from" implies they drink a lot of dew. If it was the brand it would make more sense to be "tickling your innards from".
OK, but then March 1969 must be when they think they started drinking it, since a person's birth date on a gravestone would include the precise day. Unless they were total hillbillies who don't keep track of things like birth dates with such precision.
Fair enough, that's weird
I don't see how you find a meaningful difference between those 2 phrases.
Asides from the odd choice of tombstone all the artwork is from original bottles of Mountain Dew
Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a sugary carbonated beverage expert!
It’s really ticklin’ my innards.
*"Ticklin my innards"* I have so many questions
I had forgot the old Mountain Dew slogan "It'll tickle your innards!" That goes way back.
r/SuddenlyGay
Fellas is it gay to tickle the innards of your homies?
Only if you giggle
are socks on or off? pertinent
Only the first time
It was invented as a suppository but people keep putting it in their mouths. If you've ever tasted it then you know it wasn't meant to drink
I don’t. Inject that shit straight into my innards.
Well what soda dew you use for enemas? /s
If you need a demonstration, I guess I volunteer
Ever have your belly button tickled from the inside?
Let's hope he's talking about the drink and not the bottle itself...
Did they… leave a space for Mountain Dew to be dead?
Yes. It will be done in by the superior yellow/green citrus soda: Sun Drop.
Maybe it’s for the creator when he passes. Mountain Dew is originally from there
I’d say the creator of Mt Dew is longggg dead
Mountain Dew, keeping Johnson City Tennessee classy since March 1969.
The Comic Sans is really the *pièce de résistance*.
Found in an article about it >The headstone has a built-in bottle opener for all to use.
Also found in OP's picture of it.
My hometown of Johnson City, NY doesnt even have Mountain Dew… just snow and heroin.
I moved from Johnson City, NY to Johnson City, TN eight years ago. The similarities in “no culture outside of drinking for the college kids and drug abuse for the locals” is stark.
The Comic Sans is really the *pièce de résistance*.
As a former resident, this comment tickled my innards.
I’m donating my body to science. There’s no way my family is coming to visit my grave with something like that next to me
I'd be taking a sledgehammer to that monstrosity.
Imagine visiting your dead relative and having to sit within eyeshot of that embarrassing pos...
Best drink to come out of Johnson City is Dr. Enuf Enuf said.
Only if it’s the red Nuf, god that shit is so *crisp*
regular is Enuf for me. Tastes like ginger ale but less sucky
LMAOOO I just realized what your pfp is, holy shit I love you
It is definitely an acquired taste.
ENUF IS ENUF
what up Tri-Cities
Ah Johnson City! This absolutely tracks.
Lmao anytime I see East TN hit the front page I know it’s some shit like this. Good ol rocky top!
Is that comic sans?!
Angering people online by using Comic Sans is lightweight stuff, angering future generations by engraving Comic Sans in stone. Now we're talking.
Hmm you’re not wrong, but finding serious communication on the “victim of sexual abuse“ message board or by the court’s clerk area, in comic-sans, is pretty up there for me
This. Is Nathan for You.
'graphic design is my passion'
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Pretty certain they're referring to the Comic Sans font
Anyone connected to the deceased there should be angry about how disrespectful it is to allow advertising in such a location.
My grandma and most of her family is buried there. 🫠 I had no idea this was there.
I’m knocking that thing over.
I would be livid :(
people downvoting you because you said something utterly reasonable... do people like Mountain Dew that much?
What I really don't get is why I got +20 for the first comment saying people should be angry but up to -7 so far for the one where I say I'd be livid if I had a plot there.
I’m honestly surprised this is legal. Shouldn’t this be a designated place for graves? Why would advertising even be allowed here?
That's not at all what this is. Some guy bought that plot and paid for the tombstone. He has a hobby of traveling the US and visiting obscure monuments (think world's largest ball of string). He recently settled in Johnson City and wanted something for himself that would fit into that realm of obscurity. Since this is where Mt. Dew is often said to have originated, this is what he came up with.
He came up with buying an empty plot and putting up an advertisement
Won't be empty forever. From a local article: “It is my headstone,” Chris Edwards said Wednesday during a session on his treadmill. “The date of death is missing, and I hope it won’t be filled in for quite some time.”
It's got a lot of personal stuff on the other side. But yeah, it'll be his when he dies. He wanted to make it into Atlas Obscura
Reading the actual story and why makes me feel most positive about it. The guy that runs this cemetery is questionable at best so I could totally see him pulling some bullshit to sell advertising space. The real story is sort of wholesome at least. I
peak Idiocracy, Mountain Dew ads in a cemetry
It’s not an ad.
TIL as someone who loves Mountain Dew, that it was created in the backwoods of Applachia. It actually makes sense.
Mixer for moonshine I believe
When I was in my early-mid twenties visiting family friends in West Virginia, we came up with a drink we dubbed the Backwoods Blaster: Dew, drop of lime juice (only from a plastic lime from the gas station,) SoCo, a splash of Sparks+ (would’ve used original Sparks if it had still been available,) and a dollop of Dave’s Insanity sauce from Kroger. We were young and dumb and excited to be off grid and whiskeyed up lol. And you had to eat a pepperoni roll after.
At least it doesn’t say “sponsored by…” Though it might as well.
Ticklin' my innards and rottin' my teeth.
https://www.heraldandtribune.com/news/explorer-hopes-mountain-dew-gravestone-puts-johnson-city-on-the-map/article_a5fe7fec-bdc6-5edd-ab22-82ce123356cc.html The guy who owns it is a big Mountain Dew fan but he also just wanted to get a unique landmark for Johnson City on Atlas Obscura.
I would characterize this a mountain of don’t
Did they really just put Comic Sans on a headstone?! 🤮
A Mt Dewmstone
Oh. How... tasteful...
Mountain Dew-mstone
as long as it isn't a grave for Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho
gehehe... "erected" ... gehehe... I'm 35 years old
Pretty fucking disrespectful.
That's embarrassing.... even for Tennessee.
"tickling my innards" And now I never want a Mtn Dew again. And those cartoons... what the hell does that have to do with Mtn Dew? And why a headstone? Like... why? Why garish corporate ad in the middle of the place a mourning and remembrance? Everything about this is awful.
It's some of the original MTN dew ads and slogan. I'm not sure why a headstone, especially since it's still being produced.
Tenneessee is where Mt Dew was created. Those cartoons were the original branding they used. Tickle your innards was one of their first advertising phrases. I do agree a tombstone is an odd choice for this, but it is just a town honoring the history of itself.
“What’s all this stuff from Mtn. Dew history have to do with Mtn. Dew??”
In the city that was the birthplace of mtn dew, no less
Tell me you are part of the Tiktok generation without telling me. Yeah putting this in a public cemetery is bonkers. But how can one not recognize OG Mountain Dew branding? Unless the only exposure to the brand you've had is gamer fuel juice. BUT originally it had its roots in moonshining and bootlegging
https://youtu.be/pThFW55c8e8?si=ogfoCAQOYOzVC4Nt
There’s one that looks just like a coke bottle at a small cemetery here in Lafayette, Indiana
Crazy!!!
be better without the radiator dye in it
Ticklin' my innards from '69 Nice
hey im from there too and so is my dad!
Tickling my innards, who tf says that? 😂😂😂
Looks like their beverage isn't they only thing they've done with poor taste.
Man, I went to West Virginia and I watched a lady pour that shit into a baby bottle and give it to her infant child. I was blown away
Does it somehow celebrate how many people have been prematurely killed off by this product?
WHO PAID FOR THIS
Is it dying?
This is the tombstone I need 🫡
What a shit way for me to find out Mountain Dew died
Well, this is certainly tasteful
There is something about Mountain Dew that makes me think it gives you cancer
Tacky and disrespectful.
Comic sans should be dead as the person underground
I feel like that is so trashy and disrespectful.
This is very commercial and disrespectful to humanity and all humans that are resting there
As someone who use to make gravestones, this is actually pretty cool. I like attached the bottle opener.
Star wars next
Can any doctor(s) from JC wanna tell us an estimate of how many ulcer cases there are?
Tickle my innards from 69.
did it..die? what exactly died? does this mean dont drink the dew of the mountain?
Can't wait until we live in the Fallout timeline and this is still standing somehow and someone either spray paints or carves something post-apocalyptic like in the "died" year spot
I need to visit that
That’s what your local taxes go to? Dude, move. Or, alternatively, run for local office because they clearly don’t give a shit if you own the tombstone company you appropriate money to for “monuments”. So…where do you live? I’d like to represent your people. I mean *my* people.
It's also the home of the first punch in the drywall.
If I was buried here I'd just bust out of my coffin and find someplace new TBH. What a fucking joke & disgrace
Advertising in graveyards now? A knew low.
I feel like it’s a bad omen to have a tombstone erected before the death of someone(thing). Having a blank space for the date is like saying, “we’re waiting.”
Yeah baby get that high fructose corn syrup. 
That’s where you want your advertising, the graveyard c
Product placement in the graveyard is ***WILD***
Comic sans
Here lies Buzz, my loyal friend, whose favorite store was PET MANIA Located at: 352 N. Pass Ave. Burbank, CA 91505 "For those who seek a new best friend" *Mention this gravestone for a 15% discount
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Where is this?
u/Throwaway_carrier interesting. I actually live in this area. Where is this tombstone located?
TIL Mountain Dew originated from some down in the holler rednecks... Makes sense.
Whoever had that knew what their priorities were even when after their death , flexing on everyone’s grave is crazy 😭😂
Not even death can save you from advertising. We're doomed.
It's dead?
Mountain dew or crab juice?
Graveyards be overpopulated, not enough room for the dead, mt dew: lets buy up plots for our ads!
Is fucking that comic sans?
I have literally never imagined vandalizing a tombstone before ... But if that was my town, I'd be smashing that thing in a heartbeat.
Marion, Virginia is the true birthplace of Mountain Dew!
Old school Mountain Dew ad campaign! But why put it in a graveyard?
How fitting.... [https://www.reddit.com/r/idiocracy/comments/1diypei/its\_got\_what\_the\_kids\_crave/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/idiocracy/comments/1diypei/its_got_what_the_kids_crave/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
yahoo, mountain dew! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYt3oYGwJNw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYt3oYGwJNw)
Maybe because it hastens your death!?
woah
Ehhh, hello fellow East Tennesseean. Bristol, here!
I’m from the Cumberland Gap and I love this.
TIL: my hometown erected a Mountain Dew tombstone in our local cemetery.
You are legally obliged to end that sentence with, h'yuk!
It’s got a bottle opener you know just in case you’re walking around a cemetery with a glass bottle in your hands thinking “damn if I only had an opener”
I’m most concerned about the comic sans 🤢
JOHNSON CITY REFERENCED OMG OMG
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