{"id":786748,"date":"2026-05-10T15:01:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T15:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/786748\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T15:01:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T15:01:16","slug":"diet-coke-parties-are-all-the-rage-in-india-as-aluminum-can-shortage-bubbles-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/786748\/","title":{"rendered":"Diet Coke parties are all the rage in India as aluminum can shortage bubbles up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"anchor-4c7912\" class=\"body-graf\">The party was a hit with Gen Zers, who she says are craving more alcohol-free experiences. Tickets were sold out, and attendees showed up wearing Coke-themed outfits, danced to house and pop music, and made their own Diet Coke \u201cconcoctions\u201d inspired by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.today.com\/food\/trends\/dua-lipa-diet-coke-pickle-juice-rcna174266\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Dua Lipa\u2019s recipes<\/a>. The pop star has posted videos on TikTok in which she adds pickle juice and pickled jalape\u00f1os to the drink.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-4f1eba\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cWe had a cocktail menu, which we like to call the Coke-tail,\u201d she said \u2014 it notably didn\u2019t include alcohol. Around 150 people showed up at the party on April 26, she said.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-0faae0\" class=\"body-graf\">Demand for Diet Coke and drinks with alternative sweeteners has surged in India, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/asia\/ozempic-wegovy-mounjaro-affluent-indians-use-western-drugs-lose-weight-rcna236852\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">where nearly 10% of the adult population is diabetic<\/a>, according to a 2023 study by the Indian Council of Medical Research. The country\u2019s youth, especially, has become health-conscious, Gupta said.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-4795bc\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cI saw everybody consuming it to a point where now in every house party which used to have Coke or Sprite bottles, it\u2019s all been replaced by the zero sugar,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-331a36\" class=\"body-graf\">The party was not a one-off display of dedication for Gupta, who had started an Instagram page dedicated to the beverage a month before the war in Iran broke out.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-5767fe\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cIt was some cosmic alignment,\u201d she said. \u201cWe were celebrating the very thing that there was so-called crisis for,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-d45fec\" class=\"body-graf\">She invited people to her first party promising the drink, even though it was sold out on several online delivery platforms that Indians increasingly rely on for groceries. The venue was able to procure suppliers through its distributor.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-d7e1a5\" class=\"body-graf\">Coca-Cola did not respond to a request for comment on the shortages.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-ab9d67\" class=\"body-graf\">For a generation that cares about the conflict and is deeply affected by it, it was a way to cut through the gloom and find something fun, even hopeful. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/asia\/indians-line-flatbreads-now-gas-running-short-rcna266840\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Millions in India rely on liquified petroleum gas cylinders for cooking<\/a>, but they are mostly imported from the Gulf and are in short supply due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-047cea\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cI had no idea that a lot of people would resonate with that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/260507-diet-coke-5-rs-6aad0d.jpg\" alt=\"Tickets for the party sold out, with around 150 people in attendance.\" height=\"1666\" width=\"2500\"\/>Tickets for the party sold out, with around 150 people in attendance.Courtesy of Ishika Gupta<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-05c066\" class=\"body-graf\">In the neighboring city of Gurugram, where several multinational companies are based, Shruti Sharma had been watching Gupta\u2019s parties blow up on social media. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-0edecf\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cYounger people now like it when there is a scarcity of something,\u201d said Sharma, head of marketing at the Mari\u00e8ta restaurant, which reached out to Gupta about hosting the second party.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-85bc97\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cThey find creativity and fun in something completely unexpected,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-9284e1\" class=\"body-graf\">Sharma said they\u2019re sure they will be able to supply enough Diet Coke for all attendees.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-265cc5\" class=\"body-graf\">Each ticket costs around $16, comes with two cans of Diet Coke, mixers, some snacks and plenty of Coke-themed decoration and props to go around. The party doubles as a listening session for Drake\u2019s new album, \u201cIceman,\u201d dropping the same day.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-8d34b3\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">Just like the first party, there\u2019s no alcohol at this one either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The party was a hit with Gen Zers, who she says are craving more alcohol-free experiences. Tickets were&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":786749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-786748","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116550887236855809","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}