Comments on: Republicans love Diet Dr. Pepper. Now tell me why.

By: GSR

GSR — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:27:37 +0000

because Diet Dr. Pepper tastes like Freedom.

By: r00fus

r00fus — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 06:20:49 +0000

Mormons aren’t barred from caffeinated drinks, just Coffee and Tea (Coke is however, not recommended).

By: Tom Denison

Tom Denison — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:11:05 +0000

Here’s a bit of Diet Dr. Pepper insight. Dr Pepper was founded in Waco, TX way back in the 1880′s. DP is based in Texas and is a very popular statewide, along with other neighboring southern states. Texas is largely Republican. Texas is the 2nd most populated state in the US, accounting for 8%. The other states where DP is popular are also predominately Republican.

By: Derrick Harris

Derrick Harris — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:55:43 +0000

Now that much I know is untrue. I drink it *because* it has caffeine ;-) Quite a bit, in fact.

By: slfisher

slfisher — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:03:24 +0000

It doesn’t have caffeine, which makes it ok for LDS to drink, which correlates with voting Republican.

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:29:57 +0000

Hasn’t everyone been to Graceland, where on the Lisa Marie is a bar complete with a display of Diet Dr Pepper bottles and a sign explaining it was Elvis’s favorite drink?! I don’t know how he voted but he was a religious Southerner and a patriot! Maybe he was a Republican…or maybe Republicans drink it because Elvis did!

By: Derrick Harris

Derrick Harris — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 05:28:57 +0000

Questioned asked and answered. If it’s strictly a regional thing, then it does make a lot of sense. I never associated Dr Pepper with a particular region — I drink it everywhere.

Although, the regional skew doesn’t seem so strong for other national brands with homes in Democratic or Republican strongholds. Perhaps it says something about loyalty, too.

By: John

John — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 04:40:32 +0000

Dr Pepper was founded In Waco, Texas A city with the largest Baptist University in the world that has a politically conservative student body as well as local population. Given the amount of students who go from there on to other places and spread Dr. Pepper to their conservative associates I’d say there could be a correlation.

By: John Thacker

John Thacker — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 04:16:04 +0000

However, non-Diet Dr Pepper has consumption among geeks of all kinds, whereas Diet Dr Pepper probably has greater consumption only among core Dr Pepper areas.

By: John Thacker

John Thacker — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 04:14:59 +0000

This is unsurprising.

Dr Pepper (note the lack of period in the name) is from Texas, and its annual report indicates that the five states with the highest per-capita consumption are Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and New Mexico. Outside of that, the Roanoke Valley area of Virginia is one of the highest consuming areas.

All that seems consistent with a correlation with Republican voters.