The Finch Formerly Known As Gold

5 July 2007

Hither and yawn

Pepsi-Cola has introduced something called Diet Pepsi MAX, which contains 46 mg of caffeine per 8 ounces, a jolt just this side of, well, Jolt. They're pitching this stuff as an antidote to the Great American Yawn, and according to their survey, as recounted by Popgadget:

  • 84 percent of Americans experience a daily "afternoon slump."
  • More than half of respondents admit to yawning up to five times a day.
  • Another 86 percent believe that those yawns are contagious.
  • One-third of Americans (31 percent) blame the workplace as the reason for their exhaustion.
  • Half of all survey respondents have caught someone asleep on the job, while 28 percent have confessed to falling asleep at work themselves.
  • The most popular ways respondents overcome their slumps at work include walking around the office (58 percent) and consuming caffeinated beverages (52 percent).
  • About one in five respondents (18 percent) has faked a yawn to get out of a conversation.
  • Nearly one in ten (8 percent) Americans has yawned while on a job interview.
  • 54 percent of working Americans say they would take a nap at work to reinvigorate themselves in the afternoon if given permission by their supervisor.
  • One-third (32 percent) have admitted to yawning on a date.
  • Nearly one in ten (9 percent) Americans has had a bug fly into their mouth while yawning.

That last, I think, I'd rather not have known.

Oh, and one hundred percent of women who have dated me have yawned during the proceedings. (Warning: this may not be statistically significant due to painfully-small sample.)

If you were wanting to compare caffeine counts, try this.

Posted at 6:44 PM to Almost Yogurt


I like the recent theory going around better: that yawning is the body's way of cooling off the brain. So when I'm yawning in an afternoon seminar, I can claim, "I'm not bored, I'm just thinking really hard!"

Posted by: sya at 8:06 PM on 5 July 2007

I like that. I'll just claim to have been overheating as a result of brainstorming.

Posted by: CGHill at 8:22 PM on 5 July 2007

Every time I see the stupid commercial where everyone's yawning, I yawn.

I JUST NOW yawned thinking about it.
I hate that. ;)

Posted by: aka_monty at 9:40 PM on 5 July 2007

Stop *YAWN* it!

Posted by: Dan B at 5:15 PM on 6 July 2007

A bug flew into my mouth the other day when I was walking. I sounded like I was trying to hack up a hair ball when I finally spit it out of my mouth. It was gross and embarrassing.

Posted by: Heather at 8:26 PM on 6 July 2007

I yawn anytime I see someone yawning! Have you seen their commercial? I dare you to watch and not yawn. Impossible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6gFMTCnT6o

I'm at work and could definitely use one of those now....

Posted by: Jenny at 1:51 PM on 10 July 2007