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Ad Report Card: Sermon on the Mountain Dew

By Rob WalkerPosted Monday, April 22, 2002, at 1:02 PM ET

The other day, reader Meryl Yourish sent me a note about a new Mountain Dew ad featuring Davey and Goliath, the claymation boy (Davey) and his dog (Goliath). "I just about broke a rib laughing. … Boomers will send you many letters on this one, I think." My own knowledge of the series is hazy, based on having encountered maybe a handful of reruns over the years, but of course even a snippet is instantly recognizable. You can see the ad either on Mountain Dew's site (click on "New TV Ads," then select "Davey" and either the Windows Media Player or Realplayer) or here, using Quicktime, through the site of an ad-production magazine called 'boards.

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The Ad: Davey and pal Tommy are rolling around fighting when they bump into Davey's dad, who asks, "Is there a problem, Davey?" The boy explains: "Well, Dad, there was only one Mountain Dew left, Tommy said it was his, and I said it was mine. We began to fight." He looks downcast. "It was wrong. We're sorry." Dad replies, "Boys, why don't you give me the Mountain Dew." He takes the can and drinks the whole thing as the boys look on, astonished. "Now let that be a lesson to you," says Dad, tossing them the spent can. "What just happened here?" Tommy asks. "We got hosed, Tommy. We got hosed." Goliath, the talking dog, offers his signature comment: "Oh, Davey."

Some background: According to the Unofficial Davey and Goliath Home Page, which seems pretty comprehensive, episodes of the series were produced through the 1960s and into the 1970s. It was created by Art Clokey (also the father of Gumby) for the Lutheran Church. The church bankrolled the enterprise, and all Davey and Goliath episodes have an obvious moral. (The same site notes that the Flanders family on The Simpsons seems to be dedicated fans of the series.) More recently, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has announced its intention to bring the series back, and it plans to fund this effort by way of a licensing arrangement. The Mountain Dew deal is part of that effort.

Mountain Dew's pitch: Obviously, the Mountain Dew strategy is to take a cultural icon and play it for kitsch value. Those familiar with Davey are drawn in by his nostalgia-inspiring presence, and those who know the formula of the old show are amused to see the "lesson" undergo a mild subversion treatment: The idea is that Mountain Dew is so good it trumps standard moral behavior. In a humorous way, of course.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's pitch: Maybe it seems self-defeating, and even crass, for the ELCA to raise cash by giving a soft-drink maker the go-ahead to undercut the series' earnest theme for a cheap gag. But it seems the church is playing a deeper game. "This is exactly the kind of thing we wanted in order to get the image of Davey and Goliath back into popular culture," the ELCA's director of communications has explained. "We want to bring the positive moral images that Davey provides to a new generation. But the only way to do that is through merchandising and commercial endorsements, because that's how you raise the funds." In other words, the church is pursuing the same target demo as Mountain Dew, and ultimately it has a much tougher sell (God and morality, as opposed to a high-caffeine soda). So, perhaps the Mountain Dew ad will not only help bankroll a revival of the series but will help create a new audience for it as well.

What's the moral of the story? You're asking the wrong guy. But maybe something like: Marketing works in mysterious ways.

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Rob Walker writes the Ad Report Card for Slate.

COMMENTS

Notes Fom The Fray Editor:

Jacob helpfully gives us the lowdown on The Simpsons and Davey And Goliath here: "The best we can assume is that [the Flanders] used to watch, gave it up because of Todd's objections, but didn't get around to changing the doorbell." Hermione Gigot starts a discussion on the taste of Mountain Dew here, and Brian DC says "I hate it when I can't tell if somebody is being sarcastic"—we at the Fray team so know what you mean, Brian. We think Mitch Freedman, below, probably won't agree, but RGS says the adverts mean that Mountain Dew "achieves the ultimate status as God's soda."

Reader Comments From The Fray:

I loved Davey & Goliath as a child, even though the show often used "Christian" symbols and I am Jewish. One of my favorite episodes was Davey dealing with the loss of his grandmother at Easter time. The double story line concerning the loss of a loved one and the meaning of Easter remains profound to me to this day.

I'm as heretical as the next guy and yes, the commercial is funny. But it was unnecessary and wrong to knowingly consent to the lampooning of a moral beacon such as the Davey & Goliath program, especially for such a narrow, commercial purpose. The church elders who approved this should be removed and reprimanded for their lack of judgment in failing to safeguard the dignity of Davey & Goliath.

--Mitch Freedman

(To find or answer this post, click here.)

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