Mountain Dew’s New “Sweet Lightning” Looks Not at All like a Glass Full of Urine; Why Would You Even Suggest That?

The combined forces of Mountain Dew and Kentucky Fried Chicken endeavored to shock the world Tuesday morning with the reveal of a proprietary new soft drink—Mtn Dew Sweet Lightning, which looks not at all like a pint glass filled to the brim with human urine. So much does the new product avoid any comparison to human waste, in fact, that it proves totally unnecessary to broach the topic.

Mountain Dew describes the beverage (and its healthy yellow glow) as being a “peachy, honey-flavored nectar that was created to pair perfectly with the Colonel’s secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices, so it goes down nicely with some finger-lickin’ good fried chicken.” In developing this recipe (which is not urine-adjacent) exclusively for KFC, it essentially becomes the sister product of Taco Bell’s proprietary Mountain Dew Baja Blast, which I’ve never previously described as having the luminescent green aura of cartoon nuclear waste.

The campaign to launch Sweet Lightning, which did not in any way remind me of visiting Wrigley Field as a child and peeing into a communal trough, kicks off on July 1, focused on the character of “Sweet” who can be briefly seen in the vignette below.

“With the addition of Sweet Lightning, we now have a drink that is as unique to KFC as the Colonel’s secret blend of 11 herbs and spices,” said Andrea Zahumensky, chief marketing officer, KFC U.S. “And like our world-famous fried chicken, Sweet Lightning will keep fans coming back for more.”

Given the way the new drink entirely avoids evoking unpleasant sights and smells such as human urine, we see only reason to be ebullient about Sweet Lightning’s chances on the market. You can get your first taste on July 1.