Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Drinks Six Degrees of 7 Up: The Illusion of Diversity in U.S. Soft Drinks
Posted by Dana Kopp Franklin on Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 1:03 PM
Howard did a study based on the vast spectrum of soft drinks available in the refrigerator cases of grocery stores in Lansing, Mich., recording 987 varieties and tracing each back to its corporate owner.
As a fervent believer in the power of graphics to tell a tale, Howard created an eye-popping series of atom-shaped images to represent all the various beverages, spun out like electrons from the nuclei of corporate owners.
I wasn't surprised by the size of Coke (42.8 percent market share) and Pepsi (31.1 percent) and their myriad products, but it was interesting to see how Dr Pepper/Snapple (15 percent) has snapped up many lesser-known drinks or ones that have fallen out of popular favor.
Of course the "Dr." is in, along with ever-effervescent 7 Up and an orchard of Snapples. But the corporate structure also includes ginger ale (Vernor's and Canada Dry), Schweppes Tonic Water and my childhood favorite, Squirt.
In the grand constellation of drinks, a few companies are fairly straightforward. Red Bull is a mini-molecule, offering only Red Bull, regular and sugar-free. Many of the drinks are new to me: What is Purple Kid Water? That sounds like a scary diaper incident.
Howard's research, which he conducted with Kirk Goldsberry of Michigan State and Chris Duvall of New Mexico State, can be found here. While you're there, click to download the PDF of the graphic to see the sprawling scale and minute detail.
Comments (17)
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The whole diagram is really beautiful. It looks like artwork, until you zoom in.
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weirdest of all was when Cadburry Schweppes owned Canada Dry. 'splain me that 70 cent difference then, Lucy !
I thought Faygo was like 30% of the market... see what I know. That's what I get for being a Juggalo I s'pose.
Chris, did you know that Fanta was invented in Germany during World War II by the local Coca-Cola bottler when he could no longer get Coke syrup due to the war? It is incorrect, however, to call it the soft drink of Nazis.
Nicki, I totally agree that the soft-drink diagram is beautiful. I think it really helps make an impact when an informational chart is also so aesthetically pleasing.
Interesting. But I'm confused: Isn't Dr. Pepper (the diet version of which constitutes 78% of my cellular content) a Co-Cola product? Or maybe just distributed as such in these parts?
Does anyone see Jones soda on the diagram? It's just about the only one I seek out, well, that and Hansen's.
Tom - as a kid, I got into an argument with the Coca Cola guy at Kroger about this. He says that Dr. Pepper is merely distributed by Coca Cola around here.
Dana, if you like those charts, check out this site: http://www.historyshots.com/store.cfm?IDCa…
I always love a good Venn Diagram.
I don't think Cheerwine is owned by the Dr Pepper/Snapple group, but SunDrop is, and it appears to be missing from this chart!
Nehi grape wins every time. Haven't seen it in a while. And RC always wins, too. Didn't realize it was owned by Dr. Pepper/Snapple. I hope that means it'll be around for a lot longer instead of a possible victim of corporate powerpoints and spreadsheets.
@Lesley, I drank a Diet Rite last week b/c it was the last diet drink left in the General Hospital vending machine, and it was really pretty good. Better than I remembered, anyway -- I recalled it having a harsh, bitter cola flavor that was missing this time.
Lesley, I saw Nehi grape a'plenty in Greenville, SC.
Has anyone tried "Ale-8-1", the official soft drink of Central Kentucky?
I have had a few Ale-8-1's in my day. Pretty tasty treat! My neighbor brings them back from KY from time to time.
If you want to find some old time sodas, World Market has some in stock that I haven't seen in a while. I think last time I was there, they had Frosty Root Beer and a couple of other flavors. They have some brand of grape soda, maybe Nehi, that another friend makes a special trip to get.
