The Great Pop Vs. Soda Controversy

Here in California, usually when we're at a restaurant, and you don't want milk or water or juice, you say, soda, please.

But have you ever thought about what they call soda in, let's say, Indiana?

In Indiana, they call it pop. You would know if you ever lived in Alabama, they call our word for soda, Coke.

They use the word "Coke" in a lot other places, too. Like Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, etc. People say "pop" in places like Minnesota. I should know because my best friend, Kayla, who used to go to Hillwood, lives there. Anyway, in Nevada, they only use the word "Coke" for the word we use in California, which is "soda."

If would like to see more about the uses of these words, go to the website Generic Names for Soft Drinks to look and play with a map of America’s different words for soda. Designed by Matthew Campbell, a student at East Central University in Oklahoma, and based on thousands of responses collected at popvssoda.com. 

Soda? Pop? Or Coke? It Depends Where You Live

Student: Faryn

Sugary, carbonated drinks have been the subject of some controversy lately, but there’s one soft-drink dispute that’s not new at all—what do you call them?

Check out Generic Names for Soft Drinks for an intricate map of America’s answers. Designed by Matthew Campbell, a cartography student at East Central University, and based on hundreds of thousands of responses collected at popvssoda.com, the map is a testament to the Internet’s ability to easily gather data over wide areas. It’s amazing how much information is packed into this chart—it’s clickable, color-coded and divided into individual counties, providing a high-resolution picture of a strangely potent cultural indicator. Surprisingly, the results seem to follow rough political boundaries—residents of mostly coastal, liberal areas like New England and California prefer “soda,” while the Deep South likes “coke” and the Midwest chooses “pop.” Apparently, there’s more to these names than meets the ear. (Source: Very Short List)

Write a news story about this map. You can use some of the information above for ideas, but the words must be your own. Remember to include the five W's of a good news story: who, what, when, where, and why? Also, include links, sources, labels, and at least one infographic.

Also, answer the following questions:

• What are infographics? Why are they important to include in our news stories and blog posts?
• What is cartography?
• If you finish early, work with Camryn to create a poll for students that asks how do they refer to soda/pop/coke.