What's Most Popular In America

Aug 16th, 2010

CHECK OUT AMERICA'S MOST POPULAR JOB, CEREAL, POTATO CHIP, LIPSTICK, SNEAKER, WAL-MART PRODUCT, AND MORE: 

"Bloomberg Businessweek" magazine just released its annual list of the most POPULAR items in America.  Some are predictable . . . some are surprising . . . all of them are intriguing.  Here are the highlights from the list . . .

--MOST POPULAR AIRPORT:  ATLANTA'S HARTSFIELD-JACKSON.

This is based on number of travelers, not how much the travelers ENJOY themselves there.  Atlanta had 88 million passengers last year, the most of any airport in the world.

--MOST POPULAR LIQUOR:  SMIRNOFF VODKA.

Smirnoff is generally the cheapest vodka available . . . at least the cheapest one with a brand name you've heard of.  But in taste tests, it usually holds up well against more expensive vodkas.

--MOST POPULAR CAR COLOR:  WHITE.

17.8% of the cars sold in North America last year were white.

--MOST POPULAR BREAKFAST CEREAL:  HONEY NUT CHEERIOS.

This feels like an upset, but apparently, Honey Nut Cheerios are HUGE with the LATINOS.  And since they're the fastest growing demographic in the U.S., they're taking Honey Nut Cheerios to the top with them.

--MOST POPULAR POTATO CHIP:  LAY'S.

Regular old Lay's . . . not Baked Lay's, not Wavy Lay's . . . are still America's most popular chip.  Wavy Lay's are actually the second-most popular.

--MOST POPULAR MEGACHURCH:  LAKEWOOD, HOUSTON.

Lakewood Church draws more than 43,500 people a week.

--MOST POPULAR CIGARETTE:  MARLBORO.

42.8% of all American cigarette sales are Marlboro brands.  The cigarette market on the whole is shrinking, though:  Smoking in America is down more than 31% since 1990.

--MOST POPULAR DEODORANT:  SECRET.

The more surprising thing is that all of AXE'S terrible commercials seem to be working . . . it's now the second-most popular deodorant in the country.

--MOST POPULAR DOG:  LABRADOR.

German shepherds are second-most popular, Yorkshire terriers are third, golden retrievers are fourth, and beagles are fifth.

--MOST POPULAR PRESCRIPTION DRUG:  VICODIN.

Well . . . generic Vicodin.  It went generic in 2009 and was dispensed more than 128 million times.

 
--MOST POPULAR FISH:  SHRIMP.

The FDA counts shrimp as a fish.  The average American ate 4.1 pounds of it in 2008.  Canned tuna came in second, but we only ate about half that much.

--MOST POPULAR FLOWER:  ROSE.

Americans bought 1.8 billion roses last year.  Thanks to the economy, a much cheaper option . . . carnations . . . were the second-most popular.

--MOST POPULAR GUM:  ORBIT.

Sugarless gum owns about two-thirds of the gum/mint market, and Orbit is definitely the most popular.  Trident came in second.

--MOST POPULAR ITEM AT WAL-MART:  BANANAS.

It's weird, but it's true:  Wal-Mart sells more bananas than anything else in their stores.

--MOST POPULAR JOB:  RETAIL SALESPEOPLE.

4.2 million Americans are employed as retail salespeople, making it the most popular paying job in the country.  The median salary for a sales clerk is $20,260, by the way.  The next most common jobs are cashiers, general office clerks, food preparers and servers, and nurses.

--MOST POPULAR LIPSTICK:  REVLON.

About one out of every three lipsticks purchased is made by Revlon.

--MOST POPULAR PARENTING BOOK:  "WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING".

It was first published in 1984 and has now sold more than 14 million copies and spent almost 500 weeks on the "New York Times" best-seller list.

--MOST POPULAR PEANUT BUTTER:  JIF.

Jif has been the most popular peanut butter since 1981.

--MOST POPULAR SNEAKER:  NIKE'S AIR FORCE 1.

In 2009, more than 11 million pairs of Air Force 1s sold in the U.S. for more than $1 BILLION total.

--MOST POPULAR SPORTS CAR:  CHEVY CAMERO.

It beat out the Ford Mustang for the first time since 1986.  And the most popular import sports car is . . . you'd never guess . . . the MINI Cooper. Bloomberg Businessweek