Pitch Black II (2024)

Pitch Black II was a Mountain Dew flavor released for the Halloween season of 2005 for a limited time as a "sour bite" sequel to 2004's Black Grape-flavored, Pitch Black.

Description[]

Pitch Black II was a Sour Black Grape flavor of Mountain Dew, and its name implied having complete darkness as intended to be a dark purple color. This sequel had the same Black Grape flavor as its prequel but with an added "sour bite."

Tagline[]

Its tagline was "A Blast of Grape Flavor with a Sour Bite with Other Natural Flavors."

Speculation[]

When it was first released, many people who tried Pitch Black II described it as tasting more like candy, and some said the aftertaste reminds them of Nerds, Spree, and Sweetarts, which all are chalky candy.^[1]

History[]

After the massively successful limited-time release of Pitch Black in 2004, a sequel named Pitch Black II was released the year after. It was available from August 2005^[2] to November 2005 for a limited-time 10-week period. Since sour candy was popular in the early 2000s, PepsiCo reformulated the flavor to slightly alter its flavor to build upon Pitch Black's success and the popularity of sour candy, with Pitch Black II having the same Black Grape flavoring as its predecessor along with an added a "sour bite,".

During its run, there was a marketing push of two promotions. One of which was a 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Banquet 400 Presented by ConAgra Foods race at Kansas Speedway that sponsored Jeremy Mayfield's #19 car, and the other was where a hardcore fan named Cliff^[3] challenged himself to live in his house in complete darkness for 90 days in "The Pitch Black Experiment."^[4]

After its original 2005 limited-time run, some fans were hoping for a return of Pitch Black II when Pitch Black "won" DEWcision 2016 as the new "permanent flavor," but it didn't come to fruition, and Pitch Black was discontinued in 2019.

Trivia[]

• Pitch Black II was one of many Grape flavors that PepsiCo has made over the past many years.
  • The others are Pitch Black, Darth Dew, X-Treme, Grape, Kickstart (Energizing Grape), Violet, and Mountain Dew Energy (Pitch Black).
• During its release, a promotional standee was made depicting the Creature from the Black Lagoon holding a 2-liter of Pitch Black II.
• This flavor was the second Halloween-themed flavor to release, the first being Pitch Black, the third being VooDEW (2019), the fourth being VooDEW (2020), the fifth being VooDEW (2021), the sixth being VooDEW (2022), the seventh being VooDEW (2023), and the eighth being VooDEW (2024).
• Pitch Black was promoted in the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Banquet 400 Presented by ConAgra Foods race and The Pitch Black Experiment website.^[5]
• Both Pitch Black II and VooDEW (2020) share similarities in that the flavors served as sequels to and are similar in packaging, art style, and drink color to that of their predecessors.

References[]