Whether you call it pop, soda, coke or soda pop, if you’re a US citizen it’s likely that you drink soda on a fairly regular basis. In 2007, it was estimated that, on average, Americans drink three quarts of soda per week. So what is it that we’re drinking so much? Well, just take another look at that list of generic names for carbonated soft drinks and it should be pretty obvious; Coke is America’s most popular soft drink.

Coca-Cola was created in 1885 by Georgian druggist John Pemberton and was originally known as Pemberton’s French Wine Coca. You’ve probably heard that the original formula used cocaine, but may not be aware that it was also alcoholic. Of course, that had to change when Atlanta outlawed booze the next year and the resulting drink, which also contained caffeine from Kola nuts, became known as Coca-Cola. It wasn’t until 1903 that the Coca-Cola Company stopped using cocaine in the popular soft drink.

According to “Beverage Digest,” 17.2% of soda consumed in 2007 was Coke Classic. Pepsi Cola held second place with 10.7% and Diet Coke came in third with 10%.

Everyone has their favorite candy bar, the one they still might occasionally grab while waiting in line at the convenience store.

The Snickers bar, created by Mars Inc. in 1930 is a chewy nougat center with peanuts and caramel on top, all covered in a layer of milk chocolate. It was named Snickers after one of the horses of the Mars family who invented the candy, but sold as the Marathon bar in the United Kingdom. It had global annual sales of over $2 billion last year, becoming the most popular candy bar in the world. However just a few years back, the Mars bar held the top spot among the most popular candy bars, for most of the 20th century.

The Mars bar was created by Mars Inc. as well, in 1936. The international version of the Mars bar has always been different than the United States version, as it does not contain almonds like the original formulation. Both versions are a chocolate malt nougat center with caramel on top and covered in a layer of milk chocolate.

The Mars bar has been renamed to Snickers Almond in 2000, which may have been a huge mistake on the part of Mars Inc. In 2000, annual sales of the Mars bar reached over $2 billion, but by 2002 they had dropped to $1.09 billion.

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According to Budweiser, it is brewed with two-row and six-row malt, rice, and hops, both American and European varieties. It uses a very different and distinct brewing process to produce a distinctively different, lower calorie beer with a crisp, clean taste.

Even though the micro-brewed beers are more flavorful and are gaining in popularity, the marketing people have help make Bud Light the best selling brand in the US!

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According to a study released last year by NDC Pharmaceutical, generic Hydrocodone was the most popular drug by number of prescriptions dispensed in the US during the 2004 year.

The second most prescribed drug, Pfizer‘s Lipitor, was the most popular branded drug according to the study. The drug is approved for use to help lower one’s cholesterol and thereby help prevent cardiovascular and heart disease.

According to reports, diazepam, marketed under the brand-name Valium, was the most prescribed drug is the US during the 1970s, until critics claimed it was in overuse and switched to different drugs to replace their need to treat patients with substances.

According to a new poll by Zogby International, nearly one-in-four (23%) American adults call fast food chain Wendy’s their favorite, with half as many preferring runners-up Taco Bell and McDonald’s (12% apiece). Burger King trailed McDonald’s and Taco Bell at 11%. Rounding out the field were KFC at 8%, and Jack in the Box and Long John Silver’s, at 3% each. Three-in-ten (29%) respondents say they either prefer no fast food restaurant or a chain not offered on the list.

Until 1999, McDonald’s was the most popular fast food restaurant by leaps and bounds. Recent trends in health and some famous “anti-McDonald’s” movies have apparently, fairly or unfairly, giving the golden arches a stigma in American eyes as “the most unhealty” fast food option. McDonald’s is currently spending Millions of dollars in advertising to change this public opinion.

Some fast food restaurants, like Jack in the Box in the western US or White Castle in the northern mid-Atlantic are the most popular fast food restaurants in their respective regions, possibly due to their somewhat “local” appeal.

With more and more fast food restaurants hitting the streets every day, it’s getting harder and harder for one chain to prove they are America’s favorite. Fast food it’s self, however, is in no danger of loosing popularity amongst a population that seems to be growing increasingly large.

Nielsen/NetRatings, a global leader in market research, reported that the volume of Internet search queries grew to more than 5,100,000,000, yes 5.1 billion, in the month of October 2005 alone. Google has maintained its leader position as the most popular search engine with nearly half of all searches, or 48 percent, by serving more than 2.4 billion queries.

The four most popular search players, Google, Yahoo!, MSN and AOL have maintained the same rankings in the past half year very little change in market share.

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