Q: The AJC publishes online the number of crimes, according to category, for unincorporated south Fulton and College Park, so why are Union City and Palmetto not shown?
-- Rose C. Trujillo, College Park
A: In the last six months, 12 police departments in the metro Atlanta area agreed to provide crime data on a regular basis. The paper has requests out to other agencies as well. The paper decides which agencies it will request crime data from based on the population of the area served by the department. There is no decision on whether to seek Union City or Palmetto crime data.
Q: In an AJC story, Pepsico was referred to as “Big Blue.” I always thought that “Big Blue” was the nickname of IBM. Are both corporations nicknamed “Big Blue”?
-- Lance DeLoach, Thomaston
A: IBM has traditionally had the nickname “Big Blue.” However, in the beverage circles, Pepsi is sometimes referred to as “Big Blue” or just “Blue,” said Tim Halloran, a marketing instructor at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. One factor is the preponderance of blue in the Pepsi logo. A more important factor, he said, is that Coke often is referred to as “Big Red,” due to the “Coke Red” color that has always been part of its heritage. Because Coke and Pepsi are bitter rivals, it has become corporate shorthand to sometimes refer to Pepsi as either “Big Blue” or “Blue” to Coke’s “Red.”
Lori Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or e-mail q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
