I’ve been taking quite a few day trips lately for TechStars interviews. I’ve done NYC, Philly, St. Louis, LA, and Seattle recently. I keep ordering Ginger Ale. Lots of people on the plane order Ginger Ale. I’d say it’s about as popular as Coca Cola or Pepsi on a plane. The stewardess (or whatever the PC term is these days) on the plane told me “yeah, it’s about as popular as Coke”.
Why is that?
In real life, nobody drinks ginger ale. Do you? You can hardly find it.
Is this a marketing issue, or is there something about ginger ale that is particularly appealing at 35,000 feet? Why is ginger ale not huge here on the ground?
Popularity: 4% [?]
April 9th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
This is one of those brilliant insights because it’s a known thing that no one talks about.
I totally order ginger ale on the plane and have no idea why.
I love it.
April 10th, 2007 at 5:32 am
I’ve never had ginger ale when flying. I usually get a Diet Coke when I fly.
When I was a kid, my mom would buy ginger ale for birthday parties, and I loved the stuff, but I rarely drank it. I still like ginger ale, but I never give it any thought. I guess it’s the forgotten drink.
April 10th, 2007 at 6:59 am
I used to order Cranberry or Apple Juice on flights, but I have noticed that a lot of people order Ginger Ale though. When I do drink a soda (on the ground), I prefer the Ginger Ale, I think it has to do with the gingery/spicy taste it has. Weird though, you never see commercials for it.
To my knowledge, the top producers are Schwepps and Canada Dry….
April 10th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Ginger naturally helps prevent motion sickness.
April 10th, 2007 at 8:37 am
Aha. Fred, you win the prize. I looked it up, and you’re right (well, unless you went and edited the wikipedia entry real quick)
I don’t think most people know this about ginger - do you think it’s popular on planes just because of this unconscious truth? Or do you think it’s popular because a few people know that and then it makes others go “hmm, ginger ale, i’ll have one too?”. I’m in the latter group.
April 10th, 2007 at 9:21 am
i’m definitely in the latter group too, and I suspect that most people are. I found an article that talks about this strange phenomenon, too:
http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2005-11-29/charnas-tomatojuice/
April 10th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Fascinating. It seems to me like Schweppes could easily triple it\’s Ginger Ale sales worldwide with a airplane / \”high\” class type campaign.
April 10th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Believe it or not, I had this exact discussion a few days ago with another frequent flier. I decided that this phenomenon was caused by two factors- at least for me: First, I don’t buy ginger ale for home consumption because the more I drink, the more I realize that it tastes like old sprite. But on a plane, I naturally won’t drink as much, so it becomes more like a treat. Second, ordering ginger ale does seem to travel through a plane like a yawn. There’s probably a chapter in “The Tipping Point” about it…
April 10th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Count me in as another high altitude Ginger Ale drinker. I clearly remember as a kid being on a plane and hearing other people order Ginger Ale, so I did too. And the habit has stuck with me ever since.