Talk Elections

If Coke and Pepsi were competing in a presidential election, what would it be like?  My guess: Coke in a landslide.  Your opinions?

If I HAD to pick, I'd vote Coke, who I think would win in a landslide as well.

If I could though, I'd write in Mountain Dew or Welch's Grape Soda :D

I remember reading Coke outsells Pepsi in every region but Appalachia...

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Dr. Paul (Ron Paul) is Dr. Pepper and Gary Johnson is Mt Dew

You see, while I tend to value tradition and usually favor the older version of something, and it's hard to not like the idea of a drink that used to have cocaine, I actually sometimes want more Pepsi after I've finished a can. Not big on the two Cola-flavored drinks myself, prefer Root Beer or Dr. Pepper (Ron Paul!), so my opinion isn't as relevant here. But my vote's on Pepsi due to that.

Write in: Mr. Pibb

There's not much difference from Coke and Pepsi.  I prefer Dr. Pepper more, and sometimes Mtn Dew.

I have way too much time on my hands. I can't believe how wrong the nation got it.

I compared search data by state for 'Coca-Cola' versus 'Pepsi' (http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=pepsi%2C%20coca-cola&geo=US&cmpt=q) and this is what resulted:

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Coca-Cola: 72 EVs
Pepsi: 462 EVs
Tossup: 4 EVs

Disgusting. Although, about 10 Pepsi states came very close to flipping into the Coke column.

Pepsi landslide? I am disappointed in you, America. :(

Mountain Dew (Gary Johnson): 474
Dr. Pepper (Dr. Paul): 64

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Now there's an election I'd vote in!


Which 10 states?

The right candidate won.


I can't remember. I did it fast-style with calc.

I should note (and edited the post) that the precise terms were 'Coca-Cola' and 'Pepsi'. I then went back and did 'Coca Cola' and 'Pepsi' and the results were much more even, yet with distinct regional trends.

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Coca Cola: 322 EVs
Pepsi: 203 EVs
Tossup: 13 EVs

Write in: President Sunkist and Vice President RC

Agreed.  Plus, it's based on search data, not actual research or anything like that.

This is true. However, it does shed some light on preferences, as people tend to search for things they either want, need or in which they are interested. I think my second map is a better reflector of preference than my first one, demonstrating the stark geographical divides.

It's interesting that there is such a strong North-South divide...

Pepsi over Coke.

Mountain Dew over Sierra Mist and Sprite.

Coke unpleasantly burns my insides going down. Pepsi also doesn't leave me with a heavy feeling the way Coke does.

Pepsi outsells Coke in and around Utah and North Dakota.  I don't know for sure which one I prefer and couldn't tell you unless I took a taste test (i.e. an unbiased version of the Pepsi Challenge.)  But if I had to guess, it would probably be Coke because it seems to have more flavor to balance out the sweetness.  BTW: I had a large Coke at McDonald's today and ate inside, and when I left, I got a refill.

That being said, I like them both.

My votes for Pepsi but in particular Pepsi Max, nothing beats Pepsi Max.

I have never seen a Pepsi outside of the United States. Though I have seen A LOT of Coke Zero. Yet very little Diet Coke. Which makes me sad because Diet Vanilla Coke is my drink of choice.

According to wiki:

Also, in reference to the US:

I wonder what it is about Buffalo that makes them such heavy Pepsi drinkers?

This thread reminds me of this map:
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What's weird to me is that a good part of southern appalachia (the parts in TN, NC, and south of that) heavily use the term "coke" for soft drinks. Are those parts of the "central appalachia" where Pepsi outsells Coke? I can't imagine using "Coke" as the word for soft drinks but also preferring Pepsi to Coca-Cola. Does that mean you would say "My favorite kind of coke is Pepsi"?

I just call it soft drink tbh. Soda's the best word IMO.

In my experience, this map is pretty accurate in regards to the usage in Appalachia. I live at the southern base of Appalachia - not in the mountains but close enough to be a part of the culture - and we say 'coke' pretty universally. If somebody wants an actual Coca-Cola, then usually we'll specify ('coca-cola, 'cocola'). Pretty much as soon as you cross the KY/TN line, however, it changes. My friend from extreme SE Kentucky was raised saying 'pop' and found it strange upon moving here that we did not. It's much more common to hear 'soda' than 'pop' here, although both are rarely used. When someone says 'pop', we usually laugh.

I'm from the Midwest, and we call it "pop", and even up here I hear people genericize "Coke".  I also have relatives living Texas who say that most people there either call it "coke" or "soda."  I've heard some people there call soft drinks "soda coke", though.  Not a surprise, since everybody knows that Coke is immensely more popular than Pepsi in the South.  (For that reason, I would guess that liberals would prefer Pepsi, and ironically, it also means Democrats probably drank more Coke than Republicans for most of our history. :) ) 

For that matter, I went to Arby's today and had some Pepsi there.  It tasted really watered down and there seemed to be hardly any sweetness at all.  I don't know if it's just because it was in a paper cup, but it seemed odd.  I like both Coke and Pepsi, but I could only tell you which I prefer from a taste test.  But if this was any sign, then I would probably have to say that I like Coke more.  I've had plenty of Coke in paper cups and it tastes fine, probably because it just seems to have more flavor.

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Pop: 160 (Blue)
Coke: 152 (Red)
Soda: 226 (Green)

The light colors (30%) mean that I couldn't really tell which one would win a majority, but I went where I think the most population lies.

Missouri - I think the bulk of population would be on the Mississippi River so it goes to soda

Nevada - I think Las Vegas county went for soda, so I made the state go for it.

Oklahoma - Not sure where the population is, but it looks like coke...

New Mexico - I feel more strongly that its coke than Oklahoma

Kentucky - Split between coke and pop. If you think pop won this one then flip it, I have no idea.

North Carolina - Not a damn clue.

Virginia - Think its more soda than anything else.

South Carolina - Leans coke

Wisconsin - If you think the bulk of population is in eastern Wisconsin then flip it to soda.

Aha, looks like Springfield is right inside the upper part of the yellow in Illinois, right where my dad, who called it "soda" or "soda pop" came from.

How did this go from Coke vs. Pepsi to soda vs. pop vs. Coke?

You posted that map...

Actually, I posted that map. Sorry for derailing the thread :P

Six years later...

Data for the past twelve months, using the two above search comparisons, respectively:

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Coca-Cola: 479 EVs
Pepsi: 44 EVs
Tossup: 15 EVs

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Coca Cola: 513 EVs
Pepsi: 22 EVs
Tossup: 3 EVs

With this map I used Google search trends, and in an attempt to make the results close I limited the trends to only the "Business & Industrial" category of trends.


In this map, Coke and Pepsi do well in each of their "home" states (GA & NY), with Coke winning an Obama-2012ian victory, and the geography is pretty neat (states at >40% represent 50-50 results in the trend data). Also, this will be the 2048 electoral map.

As a resident of a "solid coke" county, I honestly don't hear it often. I only ever say soda, but my family is from the deep yellow north. Still, I feel like coke isn't as common here as people think. If I ask for coke I get coke, not "what kind?".