Daily Dirt: Dr. Pepper now America’s No. 2 favorite soft drink (and check out Steve’s photo at the end)

Daily Dirt for Sunday, June 16, 2024

Coca-Cola still controls the market, but there’s quite a battle brewing beneath the longtime leader … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 980 of The Daily Dirt.

1. There’s absolutely no question what America’s favorite soft drink is, but the new No. 2 may surprise you.

Dr. Pepper has finally pushed past Pepsi to take the runner-up spot behind Coca-Cola, according to this month’s data supplied by Beverage Digest.

Here are the latest numbers:

• 1. Coca-Cola, 19.2 percent of the market
• 2. Dr. Pepper, 8.34 percent
• 3. Pepsi-Cola, 8.31 percent
• 4. Sprite, 8.1 percent
• 5. Diet Coke, 7.8 percent

“Just a couple of decades ago, Dr. Pepper wasn’t even in the top five,” Andrea Guzman of chron.com wrote.

Dr. Pepper’s new ranking follows a slow but steady rise since almost the turn of the millennium. The 139-year-old brand has benefitted from huge marketing investments, novel flavors and a distribution model that sees it on more soda fountains than any other soft drink, according to foodinstitute.com.

For those interested, here’s the rest of the top 10:

• 6. Mountain Dew
• 7. Coke Zero
• 8. Diet Pepsi
• 9. Fanta
• 10. Canada Dry Ginger Ale

2. Did you know (Part 38) …

• More than 10,000 Coca-Cola soft drinks are consumed globally per second.
• The Coca-Cola Facebook page has more than 17 million fans and 42 million likes, the most of any other brand in the world today.
• “Dream Lover” by Bobby Darin, “Shout” by the Isley Brothers and “Teenager In Love” by Dion and the Belmonts all topped the charts in — gulp! — 1959. Feel a little older?
• George Harrison was only 14 years old when he joined the Beatles.
• The record for passengers (16,082) on a ship was set during World War II by the Queen Mary.

3. The year was 1969, one of the finest in a baby boomer’s recollection of quality warm-weather tunes. The following songs not only earned a spot on my ’69 summer medal stand but for the entire year:

• Gold medal: “Sugar, Sugar,” by the Archies: Ron Dante, who is now 78, was the lead singer on this bubble-gum song. Dante and I exchanged a few emails about 10 years ago after I had written a column about how much I have always enjoyed this song.
• Silver medal: “Honky Tonk Women,” by the Rolling Stones: One of my two all-time favorite Stones songs. “Mixed Emotions” is the other. 
• Bronze medal: “Suspicious Minds,” by Elvis Presley: I have always envisioned myself singing background for The King.

Steve Thought O’ The Day
Admit it. You can picture me in one of those Elvis jumpsuits.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Yes, we can picture Steve in one of those Elvis jumpsuits. Thank you very much.