Mug Root Beer

Mug Root Beer
Product type	Root beer
Owner	PepsiCo 1986–present
Produced by	New Century Beverage Co.
Country	U.S.
Introduced	1940; 84 years ago
Previous owners	Belfast Beverage Co.
Website	pepsico.com/mugrootbeear

Mug Root Beer is an American brand of root beer made by New Century Beverage Company of San Francisco, California, a subsidiary of PepsiCo.^[1] In the United States, Mug competes with Barq's and A&W Root Beer.

It was originally produced by the Belfast Beverage Company in San Francisco, California, during the 1940s as 'Belfast Root Beer'. An advertisement for Belfast Root Beer appears as early as 1947.^[2] An advertisement for Belfast Old Fashioned Mug Root Beer appears as early as 1952.^[3]

In the late 1960s, Sugar Free Mug (now Diet Mug Root Beer) was introduced.^[4] Mug Cream Soda and Diet Mug Cream Soda were later introduced, but they are not as widely available. Mug was purchased by Pepsi in 1986, and replaced On-Tap Draft Style Root Beer as Pepsi's root beer brand.^[4] Mug Root Beer is manufactured by independent bottlers under the authority of New Century Beverage Company.

The Mug features the company's mascot, a bulldog named Dog, holding a mug of root beer.

References

^ "Mug Root Beer | PepsiCo Partners". www.pepsicopartners.com. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
^ September 24, 1947, Bakersfield Californian, p. 7 (available at newspaperarchive.com)
^ March 4, 1952, Mountain Democrat, p. 5 (available at newspaperarchive.com)
^ ^a ^b Mug Root Beer Retrieved August 22, 2012.