In recent years, it has become common for brands that endorse athletes to make farewell videos when those iconic players who they sponsor retire. Our creative idea was to say farewell to Dale Jr. in a way that felt authentic to the Mtn Dew brand — one that has always had a rebellious spirit and done things its own way. The premise was to develop a new, iconic Mtn Dew spokesperson, Dewey Ryder, to take the wheel of the Mtn Dew sponsorship. This Mtn Dew campaign can be thought of as a humorous tribute ad for its superstar, Dale Jr.

When we first introduce the character Dewey Ryder as Dale Jr’s “replacement,” we reveal he has never actually driven a race car. Dewey exposes himself as utterly unqualified for the role, yet eager to get started. A bemused Dale Jr. is a bewildered observer when it comes to Dewey’s antics in his garage.

In the follow-up film, Dewey hits the track for his very first race.

In the first act Dewey has customized his stock car and thinks it will impress the NASCAR officials, but things don’t pan out as he planned.

In act two, Dewey takes an early pit stop and makes an important phone call to Dale Jr. (who is watching the race from a suite).

The final act is a post-race interview with real-life ESPN reporter Marty Smith, in which Dewey comments on his performance and plans for the future.

Dewey Ryder’s Race Day was an instant hit with Mtn Dew fans, as well as fans of Dale Earnhardt Jr. The long-form sequel garnered fan love on social. It helped boost the campaign’s 2.5B+ (and counting) media impressions. The film reminded Mtn Dew fans of what they love most about the brand, and helped continue the brand’s sales growth spurred by the campaign’s initial launch.

Beyond paid impressions, the film generated almost 100 unique articles worth an estimated 451M+ earned media impressions.

Most importantly, it helped the business. Prior to the campaign, our share trend was –0.6pts. After the campaign, our trend improved by +0.5pts.