History Main / SoCalization

* Carbonated soft drinks are always "soda" – never "pop", "cola", or "coke" – because that's what the generic name for a fizzy drink is in California. [[http://popvssoda.com Compare.]] In this case, pop culture is actually shifting due to the influence of media.

* Public transit—or rather, the lack thereof. Although public transit isn't common in many cities of the United States, it's still odd to see a show set in a city like[[BigApplesauce New York]] or Washington, D.C., where public transit is robust and owning a car is a luxury, and no one even 'considers' taking the subway or bus.

* [[JailbaitWait A teenager will always be "legal" at the age of 18, as if this is the age of consent for the entire country.]] In reality, that's not even close to the truth. [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Age_of_Consent.png Each state]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_the_United_States#State_laws has its own age of consent]], and only twelve of them have it at 18, California being one of them. It's 16 in most of them (thirty) and 17 in the others. Also, most states have exceptions if both are younger than the age of consent, or one is at it but the other is slightly below; California, however, has ''no'' close-in-age exemptions ''at all''. Also, it is a federal offense in the United States to take a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in sexual intercourse.[[note]]The federal statute is ambiguous on its face, but the US Department of Justice apparently interprets it to apply only if the sexual act would be illegal in the place where it occurs.[[/note]]
* In-N-Out Burger has the ''vast'' majority of its stores in California, with a scant handful in surrounding states plus a few more locations peppered throughout north/central Texas. But they are sometimes mentioned in shows that take place elsewhere. Other franchises, such as Sonic and Jack in the Box, are also commonly seen on TV despite the fact that they aren't prevalent in some areas. Conversely, chains that are common in other parts of the U.S., such as Hardee's (see below) and White Castle, are almost never seen or mentioned, even in stories set where they are ubiquitous. Roy Rogers would've qualified for this too back in the 70s and 80s, but they've since been far reduced in scope and locations, as a result of Hardee's (who bought them from Marriott–yes, the hotel chain) [[ExecutiveMeddling attempting to use them as a plan for expansion]], only for the restaurant to flop so badly that they had to close most of their locations.
* California-specific namings of stores with different names across the country: Ralph's (supermarket chain owned by Kroger–which doesn't operate in some areas of the country), Checkers (known in some places as Rally's; they were originally separate chains, but merged), and Carl's Jr. (known as Hardee's in some places, mostly the South and Midwest; also a merger of two separate chains).

* Radio and TV stations sometimes have [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_call_sign#North_America call letters beginning with "K"]] even when the setting is in the east, where they usually use "W".[[note]] There are the rare exceptions on both sides of the Mississippi, WOI in Iowa and KDKA in Pittsburgh for example, but these tend to be legacy stations that go back to the earliest days of radio. Additionally, stations in Louisiana and Minnesota, the two states with significant territory on both sides of the Mississippi, are allowed to start with either "K" or "W".[[/note]]

* [[JailbaitWait A teenager will always be "legal" at the age of 18, as if this is the age of consent for the entire country.]] In reality, that's not even close to the truth. [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Age_of_Consent.png Each state]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_consent_in_the_United_States#United_States has its own age of consent]], and only eleven of them have it at 18, California being one of them. It's 16 in most of them (thirty) and 17 in the others. Also, most states have exceptions if both are younger than the age of consent, or one is at it but the other is slightly below; California, however, has ''no'' close-in-age exemptions ''at all''. Also, it is a federal offense in the United States to take a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in sexual intercourse.
* In-N-Out Burger has the ''vast'' majority of its stores in California, with a scant handful in surrounding states plus a few more locations peppered throughout north/central Texas. But they are sometimes mentioned in shows that take place elsewhere. Other franchises, such as Sonic and Jack in the Box, are also commonly seen on TV despite the fact that they aren't prevalent in some areas. Conversely, chains that are common in other parts of the U.S., such as Hardee's (see below) and White Castle, are almost never seen or mentioned, even in stories set where they are ubiquitous. Roy Rogers would've qualified for this too back in the 70s and 80s, but they've since been far reduced in scope and locations, as a result of Hardee's (who bought them from Marriott- yes, the hotel chain) [[ExecutiveMeddling attempting to use them as a plan for expansion]], only for the restaurant to flop so badly that they had to close most of their locations.
* California-specific namings of stores with different names across the country: Ralph's (supermarket chain owned by Kroger- which doesn't operate in some areas of the country), Checkers (known in some places as Rally's; they were originally separate chains, but merged), and Carl's Jr. (known as Hardee's in some places, mostly the South and Midwest; also a merger of two separate chains).

* Radio and TV stations sometimes have [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_call_sign#North_America call letters beginning with "K"]] even when the setting is in the east, where they usually use "W".[[note]] There are the rare exceptions on both sides of the Mississippi, WOI in Iowa and KDKA in Pittsburgh for example, but these tend to be legacy stations that go back to the earliest days of radio.[[/note]]

* The cities and terrain in ''VideoGame/SimCity'' have a distinct [=SoCal=] feel to them, with no seasonality, palm trees, and brown ground. Made especially odd by Maxis, the company behind VideoGame/SimCity, being from Northern California.
* Five-card draw poker as the gambling game of choice (at least until Film/{{Rounders}} was released and Texas Hold'em started airing on ESPN). California for a long time had an esoteric law prohibiting any form of stud poker, and Gardena (a UsefulNotes/LosAngeles suburb) was fairly well known for its draw poker cardrooms. From 1900 until the 1970's, five and seven-card stud games were far more popular in the rest of the country than TV and movies would indicate.

* Public school architecture. Instead of a single large school building, most California schools use a "campus" design with several structures (often single story) surrounding a courtyard, to take advantage of the generally good weather during the autumn and winter months [[note]]Obviously, schools located at higher altitudes don't[[/note]]. The courtyard is usually where lockers and lunch tables are located. Unless it's explicitly set in the warmer parts of California (or another area with a mild climate), a movie or TV show about high school will look really odd to most people if it shows the characters congregating outdoors in a courtyard or walking to class through a covered walkway.

* People of Latin American descent in other states are as likely as not - and sometimes ''more'' likely - to be from the Caribbean or even South America as they are to be from Mexico or Central America. But expect tacos, burritos, pinatas, ''Dia de los Muertos'', northwestern Mexican slang, etc., no matter where you are.

* As Tom Scott explains, this is one reason that there's a dial tone in movies after someone hangs up: during the celluloid film era, Southern California was one of the few areas in america with independent telephone companies outside of the contemporary Bell monopoly. (The other reason being RuleOfPerception combined with TheCoconutEffect.)

** People from French-speaking Quebec get the BerserkButton when they get lumped with the rest of English Canada that way, but the trope exists in their province as well, and can be called "We All Live in Montreal and Quebec City".

* For the UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}}, it's "We all live in Metro Manila". Justified considering that Metro Manila, a collection of seventeen cities named for the capital of the Philippines, has the ''highest population density in Southeast Asia'' as well as being the headquarters of most if not all of the major media broadcasting companies. A curious subtrope is "All Filipinos are Tagalog," which applies both to the language (Tagalog is the basis of Filipino) and to the people and is a potential BerserkButton for anyone who doesn't live in Metro Manila or the surrounding provinces.
* For Italy, it's either "We all live in Rome[=/=]Naples" or "We all live in Tuscany". Italy has 60 million people and less than 3 millions live in either Rome or Naples. While most of the peninsula is Mediterranean in nature, lots of cities are located far from the sea and warm weather. And let's not mention how every single region is quite different from the others in culture and traditions.
* In Russian internet, Moscow is often jokingly called "Default city" (in English) for exactly that. Everything outside Moscow is known as "Замкадье" ("Transmkadia"), referring to the MKAD highway encircling Moscow.
* Apparently, in Australia, we all live in Sydney, or to a lesser extent Melbourne. Other cities? What other cities?

** Exceptions are when the show is produced by one of the BBC's subnational branches (BBC Scotland, BBC Cymru, and BBCNI), where it will almost certainly be "modern Glasgow" (where 1/3 of Scots live), "modern Cardiff", or "modern Belfast".

* In Finland, it's "We all live in Helsinki". One guy critiziced the trope by saying that 4 of 5 Finns don't live in Helsinki, Espoo, or Vantaa, but almost every TV show takes place in there.
* Downplayed in France. While most TV series take place in large cities such as Paris and Marseille and 1 of 7 French people live in the Île-de-France region (composed of Paris and all its suburbs), several large companies and a fair share of movies and cultural events put less known towns in the spotlight. Furthermore, French cuisine hailing from every part of the country, you can be sure that some people will know about towns such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castelnaudary Castelnaudary]] (hometown of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassoulet cassoulet]]) or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roquefort-sur-Soulzon Roquefort sur Soulzon]] (hometown of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roquefort Roquefort cheese]]).
* In Brazil, it's "We all live in Rio de Janeiro". It creates an awkward feeling when people are visiting Brazil in other places other than Rio de Janeiro, where Carnaval is not a big thing or extremely different from the image foreign people have of Carnaval; samba is not present, as it is only common to the City of Rio de Janeiro; football is not widespread in places like the North Region; the semi-arid climate of the central Northeast region and the highlands subtropical/temperate climate of the South region, whereas Rio de Janeiro has a lush tropical climate and vegetation; and people in the South Region being pale, while people in Rio de Janeiro are tanned, and many others. The main reason is that Rio de Janeiro produces most of Brazil's TV and movies.
** On the other hand, the other televisual media - and most of the written one - goes for "We all live in UsefulNotes/SaoPaulo", the country's biggest city/state with most economical and populational significance.

* It's fairly rare in South Korean media to see stories set outside of Seoul or Kyeonggi-do. This is perhaps [[JustifiedTrope justified]] considering nearly half of the entire country's population lives in the Seoul metropolitan area.

* In California, vehicles are required to have license plates on both the front and back, so most cars will have a front plate, even if they're from one of the nineteen states that only require rear plates (like Florida).

* Parole is nearly always an option in fiction, unless the crime is especially heinous, in which case it can be taken off the table, like a "life without parole" sentence, just like in California. In reality, sixteen states have no parole system, and neither does the Federal government.

* In Southern California, highway numbers take the definite article: Interstate 5, for instance, is "the 5"; state highway 22 is "the 22", and so on. Despite this tic being pretty much unique to Southern California [[note]]and the UK[[/note]] due to the numbered highways having earlier names (the Santa Monica and San Diego Freeways becoming Interstate 10/"the 10" and Interstate 405/"the 405" respectively), it is often carried over into shows and films even when people in the setting would say "Route 22", "State 22", "I-5", "Highway 5", just plain "5", and so forth (example: Creator/CameronDiaz's Bostonian character in ''Film/KnightAndDay'' saying "the I-93" rather than "I-93" or "93").

* In Southern California, highway numbers take the definite article: Interstate 5, for instance, is "the 5"; state highway 22 is "the 22", and so on. Despite this tic being pretty much unique to Southern California due to the numbered highways having earlier names (the Santa Monica and San Diego Freeways becoming Interstate 10/"the 10" and Interstate 405/"the 405" respectively), it is often carried over into shows and films even when people in the setting would say "Route 22", "State 22", "I-5", "Highway 5", just plain "5", and so forth (example: Creator/CameronDiaz's Bostonian character in ''Film/KnightAndDay'' saying "the I-93" rather than "I-93" or "93").

* According to [[https://youtu.be/bUIiUXvnkUQ?t=1m10s this video]], SoCalization is one reason that there's a dial tone in movies after someone hangs up. (The other reason being RuleOfPerception combined with TheCoconutEffect.)

*** Seen in ''Series/HawaiiFiveO'' [the original] and ''Series/iamiVice'', even though neither show takes place in California. That would be a failure to guarantee a commercial loan and an attempt to subvert taxes on oil or mineral extraction, respectively.

*** While on temporary duty with the NYPD, Marshal Sam ''[[Series/{{McCloud}} [=McCloud=]]]'' responded to another "187" in Manhattan.

*** Seen in ''Series/HawaiiFiveO'' [the original] and ''MiamiVice'', even though neither show takes place in California. That would be a failure to guarantee a commercial loan and an attempt to subvert taxes on oil or mineral extraction, respectively.

* California cops have [[RaceAgainstTheClock 48 hours]] to charge a suspect with a crime before they have to release him. The standard under federal law is actually 72 hours, but You Have 72 Hours isn't a trope.

* [[JailBaitWait A teenager will always be "legal" at the age of 18, as if this is the age of consent for the entire country.]] In reality, that's not even close to the truth. [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Age_of_Consent.png Each state]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_consent_in_the_United_States#United_States has its own age of consent]], and only eleven of them have it at 18, California being one of them. It's 16 in most of them (thirty) and 17 in the others. Also, most states have exceptions if both are younger than the age of consent, or one is at it but the other is slightly below; California, however, has ''no'' close-in-age exemptions ''at all''. Also, it is a federal offense in the United States to take a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in sexual intercourse.
* In-N-Out Burger – This fast food chain has the ''vast'' majority of its stores in California, with a scant handful in surrounding states. But they are sometimes mentioned in shows that take place elsewhere. Other franchises, such as Sonic and Jack In The Box, are also commonly seen on TV despite the fact that they aren't prevalent in some areas. Conversely, chains that are common in other parts of the U.S., such as Hardee's (see below) and White Castle, are almost never seen or mentioned, even in stories set where they are ubiquitous. (Roy Rogers would've qualified for this too back in the 70s and 80s, but they've since been far reduced in scope and locations, as a result of Hardee's (who bought them from Marriott- yes, the hotel chain) [[ExecutiveMeddling attempting to use them as a plan for expansion]], only to [[EpicFail fail so hard]] they [[DownerEnding ended up closing most of them]].)

This is arguably the reason why ItsAlwaysSpring. Also known as ''Californication'', which is the trope namer for a [[Series/{{Californication}} TV show]] and [[Music/{{Californication}} an album]] (and its titular song) by Music/RedHotChiliPeppers. Especially as a TakeThat by residents of the [[UsefulNotes/TheOtherRainforest Pacific Northwest]]. Nonetheless, it can be inverted by having shows that actually are set in Southern California... but filmed in [[StargateCity Vancouver]].

* In Canada, it's called "We All Live in Ontario". Due to the concentration of media in Toronto in an otherwise enormous country, pretty much anything of a "national" nature in English Canada is "Ontario". This includes terminology, accents, products and stores, etc. Creator/{{CBC}} takes a lot of flak for this from non-Ontarians. There is even a degree of Canadian EaglelandOsmosis that goes with it, as many people from thousands of miles away in British Columbia, for instance, have internalized Canadian stereotypes as their own, even though they never were. Some examples from [[StargateCity Vancouver]] in particular: ice hockey (not that common when you can't make outdoor rinks); anything wintery for that matter (hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics did not help that image); Ontario pronunciation ("Canadian raising" is much less obvious in B.C.); Tim Hortons (almost entirely absent from the Vancouver area until the merger with Wendy's – Vancouver is a first-rate coffee town with tons of local options, which is probably not too surprising when you're a couple hours' drive from Seattle).

** On the other hand, the other televisual media - and most of the written one - goes for "We all live in SaoPaulo", the country's biggest city/state with most economical and populational significance.

This is arguably the reason why ItsAlwaysSpring. Also known as ''Californication'', which is the trope namer for a [[Series/{{Californication}} TV show]] and [[Music/{{Californication}} an album]] (and its titular song) by Music/RedHotChiliPeppers. Especially as a TakeThat by residents of the [[TheOtherRainforest Pacific Northwest]]. Nonetheless, it can be inverted by having shows that actually are set in Southern California... but filmed in [[StargateCity Vancouver]].

** To be fair, "soda" was already popular in most of America.

** In the past, TV and radio presenters were required to speak using received pronunciation (ie., the extremely posh accent heard in older broadcasts), and even when that was relaxed a bit they still had to use a "proper" English accent. It's only in the last couple of decades that presenters have been free to speak normally in the their natural accent. This can give the impression that, prior to the '90s, only close relations of the Queen were allowed to read the news, while now, even if there tends to be a focus on a few large cities, you at least get some impression that people from the rest of the country actually exist.

* The state government office that deals with motor vehicle registration, driver's licenses, and personal identification is invariably called the Department of Motor Vehicles, or "the DMV." Most states have this department, but only 18 call it the DMV. The other 32 might change the name slightly, such as Arizona's Motor Vehicle Department (MVD), Massachusetts' Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV or "the Registry") or Ohio's Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). Others have a name completely different like the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation ([=PennDOT=]). Still others give this task to government offices not normally associated with vehicles or ID. For example, Illinois handles these tasks via local offices of the Secretary of State. Nonetheless, "the DMV" has become shorthand for this office all across the country.

* California cops have [[YouHave48Hours 48 hours]] to charge a suspect with a crime before they have to release him. The standard under federal law is actually 72 hours, but You Have 72 Hours isn't a trope.

*** In 2010, ABC offered ''Detroit 1-8-7'', a show with a title referencing the California penal code (murder) in a city not in California. In the Michigan legal code, 187 is a long-repealed section on assisting prison breakouts.

** It's noteworthy that Latinos in American media became [[LatinoIsBrown noticeably darker]] and began to be treated as a distinct race in the 1980s, precisely when Los Angeles replaced New York City as the hip place to be.