Why People Are Counting The Bottles In Mountain Dew's Super Bowl Commercial

Whatever you do, do not blink while watching Mountain Dew's Super Bowl ad! The 30-second, uber-amped production announces the launch of Major Melon, which is Mountain Dew's first permanent flavor offering in more than a decade (via Thrillist). The neon-pink Mountain Dew Major Melon is said to be bursting with watermelon flavor, comes in both regular and Zero Sugar versions, and is now available everywhere nationwide. 

To celebrate, the PepsiCo-owned company that is famous for its hyper-caffeinated electric-colored soft drinks and clever advertising, has partnered with American wrestling legend, actor, and television presenter John Cena. Driving a pink convertible with a green interior through a pink and green acid-trip of a place called "Melon Town," Cena stares wide-eyed at one wacky funhouse-style attraction after another — including a rollercoaster with pink cars that spans the street on which Cena is driving and a puppy made of watermelon (via YouTube). But it's what Cena says at the last moment that delivers on Major Melon's promise of "life-changing flavor." 

"Be the first to count and tweet the exact number of Mountain Dew Major Melon Bottles shown in this commercial and you could win a million dollars!" Cena says to the camera ... as who-knows-how-many bottles of the beverage fly out of the trunk of his car.

In a 30-second Super Bowl commercial that takes fan engagement to precisely the sort of extreme we've come to expect from Mountain Dew, wrestling great John Cena drives through a trippy town made up of pink and green funhouse-style attractions. They seem to never stop moving, even for a second — only to announce at the last possible second that you can win a life-changing million dollars if you can somehow count all the Mountain Dew Major Melon Bottles shown in the ad spot. But don't worry, you can go back and watch the ad as many times as you want. You can also catch it on Twitter, which is where you'll have just three chances to tweet the right number along with the hashtags #MTNDEWMAJORMELON and #MyPromotionEntry. But get busy counting those bottles because mere minutes after the ad aired, the tweet already had tens of thousands of responses. 

And if you happen to be wondering "why watermelon," the answer is it was the number one choice of flavors tested among Mountain Dew fans, according to Nicole Portwood, a Mountain Dew vice president of marketing (via Food Dive).