A Quiz On Soft Drinks, AKA "Pop" Quiz

Answer: Bulldog

Mug started out as a regional brand in the San Francisco area in the 1950s, and was purchased by Pepsi-Cola in 1986 to create worldwide competition for A&W and Barq's root beer.

The dog's name on the label? "Dog". (Don't tell me you won't use that bit of trivia tomorrow.)

Answer: Benzenes

No, you do not want to be drinking a drink that associates itself with BENZENE. Studies in the United Kingdom, and later the United States, have shown a small percentage of soft drinks contain benzene, a substance known to have carcinogenic effects. Testing for benzene levels in drinking water are stringent, but the testing is not as widespread in soft drinks.

Answer: Cherry Cola

"...a magenta feeling takin' shelter in the base of my spine, it's like-a chick-a cherry cola," is the lyric in question.

Australia's Savage Garden managed to hit Number One in Canada with the song, and it also made Number One on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart. The group broke up in 2002.

Answer: Dr Pepper

Yes, he was the one who started the "I'm a Pepper, you're a Pepper..." jingle craze. David also starred in the short-lived ABC sitcom "Makin' It", which didn't. But David also sang the theme song, which did, making up to Number Five on the Billboard Hot 100.

Contrary to some beliefs, there is no dot in Dr Pepper.

Answer: Sassafras

The early process for making root beer was a tentative one, as home projects that weren't properly tempered during the fermentation often exploded. The bulk process required for worldwide consumption is now synthesized, often using concentrates, but some people still make it the old fashioned way, with tasty results.

Answer: Pepsi-Cola

Pharmacist Caleb Bradham formed the drink in the 1890's for treatment of upset stomach, also known as "Dyspepsia". It was originally called "Brad's Drink" and renamed Pepsi Cola and trademarked in 1903.

Answer: Moxie

The ubiquitous slogan "Make Mine Moxie!" was linked to Ted Williams in magazine advertising, billboards, and the like back in the 1940s. While sales are nowhere what they were back them, Moxie still enjoys a following in the New England states. While I have not tried it, some describe the taste as a not-as-sweet alternative for the sodas that gain most of the sales nationwide.

Answer: Orange Whip

This line was not in the original script. The costume person on the movie set was the daughter of the vice president of Orange Whip Corporation. She asked if the drink could be mentioned at all since the company had been supplying the non-alcoholic drinks for the cast and crew for most of the filming. Director John Landis, apparently acquiring a taste for the beverage, had John improvise something that would mention it.

The line, "Who wants an Orange Whip? Orange Whip? Orange Whip? Three Orange Whips!" has infiltrated pop culture several times since then.

The drink saw a resurgence for a while in the Chicago area, but alas, the company is gone now.

Answer: France

Coca wine was an alcoholic drink mixing wine and cocaine (and we in the 21st Century have a drug problem?). Pharmacist John Pemberton took the French methods and formed his own mix of the drink. It proved quite popular (duh, look at the ingredients!).

But the advent of prohibition in Georgia in the end of the 19th century along with the naming of cocaine an illegal drug forced John to completely alter his recipe. This concoction was the birth of Coca-Cola. The recipe has since changed from the earliest mixtures, but origins can traced to this time frame.

Answer: Joseph Priestley

Philosopher, theologian, scientist and political theorist Joseph Priestley has a huge list of claim-to-fames. He is generally regarded as the man to isolated oxygen for discovery, and he teachings on pedagogy are still popular. But in 1767 he discovered the method of infusing carbon dioxide into water, essentially inventing soda water.

Hence the Pepsi, Coke, Mountain Dew, Dr Pepper, or whatever you might be drinking of the soft drink variety wouldn't be possible without this discovery. So I raise my glass to you, Joe. Feel free to join me in doing the same.