From the Internet to magazines, were flooded every day with ads that tell us what we should like. But what do we really like? What do we buy the most often, eat the most of, love the most? As reported by Business Week, researchers have some amazing, and funny answers:
Guess what Walmarts most popular item is?
The banana! Really. The worlds largest retailer, which rang up $405 billion in sales last year, sells more bananas than any other item in the stores. Freaky.
Our drug of choice
Vicodin. The painkilling combination of hydrocodone with acetaminophen was dispensed (generically) 128 million times in 2009. Why is it so popular? Because its prescribed in dentists as well as doctors offices. Unfortunately, its become a party drug: a survey showed that in 2008 9.7 percent of high school seniors used the drug recreationally.
The peanut-butter fight
The winner, by a knockout: Jif. The brand, which recorded sales of $317 million, has outsold Skippy, its closest rival, since 1981. According to Business Week, Jifs stayed ahead by proactively launching spinoffs like Simply Jif (with less sugar and sodium) and the portable Jif To Go. And it doesnt hurt that theyve got one of the most memorable ad slogans ever: Choosy Mothers Choose Jif.
Favorite fish
