Punjabis from the subcontinent cannot help but lay their claim on the originality of Pepsi’s new drink
After good old ‘kadak chai’ got renamed as chai tea and the ubiquitous ‘haldi doodh,’ met its western cousin turmeric latte, looks like there is another drink from the subcontinent that has got global attention.
Recently, Pepsi released its new Christmas commercial, in which actor Lindsay Lohan is seen mixing Pepsi with milk! Calling the new drink Pilk, as soon as Lohan tweeted her video, people across the globe couldn’t help but react to this seemingly ‘strange’ beverage combination.
Read: Christmas festivities at Lindt Home of Chocolate (November 5, 2022)
But just as cola giant Pepsi is trying to normalize this mix and promoting ‘Pilk and Cookies,’ Punjabis from the subcontinent cannot help but lay their claim on the originality of the drink.
Interestingly, ‘doodh soda’ or milk mixed with any soda drink has been a thing for decades in the provinces of Punjab in Pakistan as well as some parts of India.
Many foodies across the subcontinent, swear by the nostalgia associated with this great thirst quencher of a drink that provided respite from the unforgivable hot weather in northern provinces of India and Pakistan.
Hajra Shaikh of Chicago remembers it as the preferred drink during the Ramadan months during her childhood growing up in Lahore.
Read: Taking Dosa to Dublin and beyond! (October 31, 2022)
Virat Singh who hails from Delhi and now lives and works in Sugarland, Texas says that as kids they grew up mixing vanilla ice cream with cola for their version of desi float.
For other, first generation desis in America, it is also a drink associated with nostalgia. For Umair Ahmed of Tennessee, doodh soda is a reminder of a drink his grandfather would make for the entire family during hot summer days.
The popularity of the drink is so much that even some local eateries in Pakistan and in India as far as in Kolkata serve doodh soda – which is a variation of Sprite or 7 Up mixed with milk and topped with crushed ice.
Read: Lindsay Lohan pours milk in her Pepsi, launching #PilkandCookies challenge (December 1, 2022)
However, just when you thought desis were the only ones who first thought of this combination then there are other pop cultural references too.
American sitcoms of the 70s, Laverne and Shirley had many comic references to the combination as it was character Penny Marshall’s favorite drink on the show!