Readers’ Turn: It’s Pop, Not Soda
OCT. 9, 2015
A Pepsi-Cola sign in Long Island City, Queens. Credit Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times
By Josh Katz and
Margot Sanger-Katz
This article was initially published as a letter to subscribers of The Upshot’s newsletter. You can
sign up for the email here to get this and all of the best of The Upshot.
Our article last week about
declines in American soda consumption prompted complaints from readers in the South and Midwest. Why, they asked, were we calling those sweet, fizzy drinks “soda” and not “pop” or “coke”?
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“I can’t remember the last time I had a pop (West Coast terminology if I’ve ever seen it)” wrote C.,
a commenter from New York. “To me, they’re to be enjoyed for special occasions like a night out at the diner. Seriously, if you don’t get pop at a diner, you’re heartless.”
Perhaps our coastal bias was showing.
If you live in California or the Northeast, it’s easy to forget that about 40 percent of the country
refers to what industry analysts call “carbonated soft drinks” with a word other than “soda.”
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Related Coverage
Scaling Back: The Decline of ‘Big
Soda’OCT. 2, 2015
Scaling Back: Americans Are Finally Eating LessJULY
24, 2015
The New Health Care: The Evidence
Supports Artificial Sweeteners Over SugarJULY 27, 2015
“Coke” is the word in parts of Texas and the Deep South, while there are places in the Midwest where
over 75 percent of people say “pop.”
A vocal minority in and around Boston calls the drinks “tonic,” and in New Orleans, North Carolina and
a few other places you’re apt to hear someone order a “soft drink.” (In England,
apparently, people say “fizzy drink.”)
Another common response to the story: Why is bottled water such a blockbuster when tap water in the
United States is plentiful, safe and mostly free?
Readers are right to point out that many people buy in a bottle what they could easily drink from the
faucet. But we should also note that the beverage industry’s bottled water category also includes some seltzers and flavored waters.
ELS, Berkeley, Calif.
Why waste money and resources on purchasing bottled water? We have perfectly good tap water. Carry a
refillable container and enjoy!
Ben P, Austin, Tex.
We are replacing the vice of sugar with the vice of plastic covering for water. Tap water is 1/10,000
the cost of bottle water. Tap water has much less of a carbon foot print than bottle water. Tap water tends to be cleaner than bottled water. Tap water does not result in plastic bottles ending up in landfills. Let’s cut out soda, but let’s replace it with
tap water.
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There used to be a lot more water fountains around. That's why people are drinking bottled water- no
easy source.
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jeremyrnr
Notice the increase in bottled water, which is soda minus all the additives (that cost money). The soda
conglomerates are laughing all the way to the bank.
Jason G, Brooklyn
Yep, soda is bad. But can we also talk about bottled water? Shame on the companies for converting our
water sources, a longstanding public good, into a source of profit. On the other hand, you have to question the people drinking it. Why pay a 2000x premium for the same exact product?
RPM, North Jersey
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A gallon of water weighs 8.3 lbs. Water is heavy and bulky. Transporting water uses significant amounts
of fossil fuel. Think how much energy is required to move water from Fuji to Hackensack, N.J.
Suzin, Connecticut
This is very good news. But please, drink water from your own tap. You are paying for bottled water
that might not be as good, that might not even be tested, and that is very likely “tapped” by the bottlers from your own city water.