MAJOR. Pepsi tapped into a TikTok trend with a new campaign featuring actress Lindsay Lohan promoting “pilk,” an unusual combination of soda and milk that has puzzled consumers on TikTok in recent months, even though its roots date back decades.
KEY FACTS
Pepsi launched the holiday-themed campaign on Thursday with the hashtag #PilkandCookies.
The ad features Lohan, who is working on a Hollywood comeback with her Netflix romantic comedy "Falling for Christmas," in which the former child actress is making her first lead role in nearly 10 years following legal troubles related to multiple DUIs.
In a statement Thursday morning, Pepsi Chief Marketing Officer Todd Kaplan said the idea behind the ad campaign came as a response to the TikTok trend of “dirty soda,” a mix of milk and Pepsi popularized last year by Gen Z singer Olivia Rodrigo, who posted a video of herself drinking the concoction.
The drink, however, is far from new: Laverne on Laverne & Shirley drank Coca-Cola with milk as a comfort drink during the show's run in the 1980s, and some restaurants and ice cream stands refer to the mixture of Coke and vanilla ice cream as a “brown cow.”
Kaplan called the combination a longtime “secret tip among Pepsi fans” and said the campaign is “a great way to unapologetically celebrate the holidays with a delicious new way to enjoy Pepsi.”
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SURPRISING FACT
In addition to “pile and cookies,” Pepsi also introduced “naughty & ice,” a blend of milk, heavy cream, vanilla cream, and Pepsi, as well as several other variations, including “chocolate extreme,” “cherry on top,” “snow float,” and “nut cookie.”
KEY BACKGROUND
Pepsi isn't the first major brand to capitalize on a social media trend. Last year, Starbucks introduced the chai iced matcha latte and the “pink remix” (Starbucks' pink acai strawberry drink with vanilla cold foam), two off-menu drinks popularized on social media, which allowed customers to order the drink via a link on Facebook and Instagram. In September, Dunkin' Donuts introduced the “Charli,” a cold brew with three pumps of caramel swirl named after Gen Z TikTok star Charli D'Amelio.
TANGENTIAL
TikTok users have grown accustomed to finding trendy recipes and strange food challenges on the platform, though some of those challenges have been called dangerous, including this summer’s “NyQuil chicken” trend, which prompted the Food and Drug Administration to issue a statement warning that it can harm people who eat it and “even cause death.” The viral Tide Pod challenge that challenged people to consume laundry detergent also went viral, prompting a warning from the American Association of Poison Control Centers over concerns that it can cause seizures and death.
This story was previously published in Forbes US.
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