ED DRISCOLL: What On Earth Was Mountain Dew Thinking? “Yes, the liberal postwar overculture of the 1950s through the mid-1960s was ‘plastic,’ as The Graduate claimed. Yes it was full of ‘phonies’ and hypocrites as Holden C. warned. On the other hand, it had enough common sense — read, good taste — to instinctively reject a commercial such as this. Not only would it never have been aired, it would have never left the ad agency’s presentation boardroom.”