It is a Pop or a Soda, NOT a Coke unless I'm ordering a "Coke"

HA! Ok, so I have finally found scientific evidence that the majority of the country DOES NOT use "Coke" as a generic term for all soda pop. 

Here is the article on the Strange Maps website. 

Here is a link to the people who created the map and their further research. Which just for your FYI are from East Central University in Oklahoma, my grandfather's alma mater where each year outstanding music students can receive a scholarship in his name each year (to toot my family's horn a little :)...)

For the years I lived in Texas I found it to be quite frustrating that everyone would call soda pop "Coke." People would order "Coke" and you would have to ask "what kind?" But if you think about it in reality "Coke" is a brand name of a specific kind of carbonated beverage and not the generic term. Now I am sure the people at Coke are quite pleased that most all of the south refers to all soda pop as Coke creating a powerful branding of a culture (much like the iPod has taken over the MP3 player market). But I am even more sure that Pepsi is not pleased with the mass branding of Coke with it even being used to refer to a Pepsi. As a faithful Diet Pepsi drinker since my childhood I often seek to protest this branding! 

In my protesting, I am often asked, "Why do you call it pop? You are from the south, sort of, you are supposed to call it Coke" I respond, "Because I don't usually drink Coke, I prefer Pepsi, so why ask for something I don't want!" Often people think I am strange...BUT now I can prove that I'm not quite as odd as they may think. If you look at the map the area of blue in Oklahoma happens to include my home town of Tulsa and it seems that Tulsans typically call it "Pop." I rest my case....

On another note, often I am asked, "Where are you from? Your accent seems northern or north midwestern." I tell them Tulsa, Oklahoma and they usually say, "Did you grow up there because you don't seem to have a southern accent at all?" I say "Yes, I grew up there, but there doesn't really seem to be much of a southern accent in Tulsa or the surrounding area. I tend to hear more of a generic midwestern accent there. I don't know why. It's just the way it is." Well, now with this map I have proof based on the pop/coke/soda controversy that the Tulsa area (also called "Green Country") typically uses language like the north and midwest. If you notice its the only blue area in a sea of red... hum... what does this say about Green Country...

I wonder if its the same when it comes to politics... :) 

Just some thoughts today. 

Back to job hunting....