An Illinois man is suing Pepsi Co. because, he says, he found a mouse in his can of Mountain Dew. But Pepsi says the guy is pulling a Strange Brew, and here's how they know: If there really were a mouse in a Mountain Dew can, it would have dissolved into "a jelly-like substance" before the guy could find it. Seriously, this is their defense.
The company argues it has scientific evidence that the mouse was not in the can when the case was sealed in August 2008 and that a veterinary pathologist examined the mouse, finding that it could not have been in the can that long because its body would have disintegrated due to the acid in the soda.
Pepsi argues that for the mouse to have been in the Mountain Dew that long, the body would have transformed into a "'jelly-like' substance."
The idea that soft drinks can dissolve, say, a tooth or a penny is frequently trotted out by anti-soda folks (even though they won't, or at least not quickly). But this isn't the PTA trying to get Pepsi machines out of schools. This is Pepsi Co. itself saying that its product will dissolve a rodent corpse over the shelf life of a can. This might win them the lawsuit, but as a marketing strategy, "Mountain Dew: If it has vermin in it, you'll never know" could use a little work.
