The following was compiled in 1996 and was based on way too much effort by researchers in Wisconsin, with 120,000 respondents to surveys.
What does this map tell us?
First - the colors and blue are well chosen. The areas that say "coke" to mean any carbonated soft drink are all Republican and conservative. And all dixie. The Coke extrusion into Indiana is crucial. Kansas City says "coke" too.
Also, the "coasts" are both Soda areas. But Northern CA is stronger than southern CA in this regard. You can see how VA, FL, and NC might be swing states. Also, Appalachia says "pop." While many urban areas say "pop," those with migrations from elsewhere (Denver, what appears to be Iowa City, Lawrence Ks, even Salt Lake City, are Soda or mixed).
The truly fascinating areas are in Wisconsin and the St. Louis area where, for some reason, Soda reigns over Pop and Coke. Why might this be? There are probably just three major media markets: Milwaukee, Green Bay, and St. Louis that account for this. These are areas with major league baseball and football teams. Could it be that Soda marketing in media markets came out of New York rather than Chicago? Hard to say. I doubt it represents population migrations from either coast.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Drinks, Dialects, and Politics
Posted by The Law Talking Guy at 3:56 PM
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3 comments:
Well, if Chicago says "pop" a lot of Wisconsinites will say "soda" just to be different from the F.I.B.s (F-ing Illinois Bastards).
I wonder what Obama says. I bet he says "soda.' In fact, I'll bet every president (including Bush Jr.) has said "soda."
"Soda" is the term of the "coastal elites" along with Hawaii. Obama grew up in Hawaii and I would guess that he says soda because of it. But his wife and kids probably say "pop."
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