It's a "did you know" aimed at the kind of clueless Atlantic reader that doesn't know anything about Soda lore. Kinda' smug, like all his writing, I guess. Don't hate him or this necessarily since it's basically an easy article for him to write and get monies from The Atlantic, but it's still kinda' dumb to think J.D. Vance was successful at all just name-dropping Dew like "hello fellow, soda drinkers".