Music

Lil Wayne SXSW Gig Turns Into Mountain Dew Commercial

by Dave Hodgson

Fans who bought tickets for Lil Wayne’s Young Money showcase in Austin were hoping that they might be treated to an appearance by Drake or Nicki Minaj. Instead, they got Mountain Dew.

After boarding onstage for his set and doffing his shirt – there must have been a problem with the A/C – Weezy said he had something to get off his chest and made a seemingly-inspirational speech to his fans, telling them to “find your thing and do you” (not a typo). Then he produced a bottle of Mountain Dew, held it in the air and proclaimed: “This is what I Dew.” Wayne admitted that the crowd had just taken part in the filming of his first commercial for the neon green liquid, and later welcomed up the Mountain Dew skate crew for an impromptu grind sesh.

This was all part of the launch of the multi-million dollar “DEWeezy” ad campaign, which has already put out an online mixtape. Can we be far from the debut of Mountain Dew: Purple Drank? Its lean will have you swervin’!

Of course, this is far from the first musician/soft drink marketing collaboration. Busta Rhymes stumped for Dew in 2003, Ray Charles starred in a memorable series of ads for Diet Pepsi, and 7-Up’s Fido Dido only scored that position after putting out a pretty kick-ass ska album.