Marketing
Mello Yello was featured in the 1990 NASCAR-based movie Days of Thunder, in which Tom Cruise's character, Cole Trickle, drove a Mello Yello–sponsored car to victory in the Daytona 500, although the product name itself is never verbally mentioned in the movie. That livery went on to become a real NASCAR paint scheme the following year, when driver Kyle Petty drove with Mello Yello sponsorship in the Winston Cup Series. He ran four seasons (1991–1994) with the sponsor before switching over to Coors Light in 1995. Mello Yello was seen as a sponsor on die-cast toy and collectible cars for both the Days of Thunder #51 Chevrolet Lumina and Kyle Petty's #42 Pontiac Grand Prix. Mello Yello also sponsored the fall Winston Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway through 1994.
Mello Yello was also advertised in the Nashville-based Ernest commercials in which he coined the beverage's official slogan "Make The Mello Yello Move", followed by his trademark phrase, "Knowhutimean?"
In 1982, arcade manufacturer Gottlieb created but never released an edition of their successful arcade game Q*Bert with Mello Yello livery in-play as well as proposed cabinet artwork. The game has been preserved and is playable on the MAME arcade emulator.[9]
In 2011, Mello Yello relaunched its ad campaign. The commercial featured cartoon adults who boarded a boat and made a band, singing "Mellow Yellow".
In 2013, Mello Yello became the title sponsor of the NHRA's professional drag racing circuit—the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, as part of an extension of the Coca-Cola Company's sponsorship. Fellow Coca-Cola brands Powerade and Full Throttle had previously served as title sponsors.[10]
In December 2015, Mello Yello unveiled a new logo and packaging design, featuring a new stylized "MY" emblem in black on yellow.[11] This logo was only used for the regular variant and the Mello Yello Zero. Mello Yello Cherry and Peach continued to use the previous logo until 2017.
