What do we want from Lindsay Lohan? If you could answer that question, then we would get closer to understanding the collective American psyche than some nosy interloper like Alexis de Tocqueville or Frances Milton Trollope ever did. All I can say for certain, and this is not so wonderful of us, is that we used to want Lohan to be a little messy. We wanted her to do things like kookily wear a fake engagement ring to a Halloween party as a little prank and be present at the seminal “Bimbo Summit.” We liked puzzling over a strange new accent and watching the former child star worry Oprah. But—and this is the hard part to come to terms with, the unfair part—we also want her to be well. We want her to be naughty and we want her to be nice. How impossible of us! How frustrating!

The good news, at least, is that right now Lohan seems really well. She has an eminently watchable Netflix Christmas movie out there right in time for high cozy season. She looks great thanks, in part, to stylist Law Roach. She appeared in an Interview magazine spread that doubles as a collectors item. And she’s getting checks. She’s starring in some solid commercials, the latest of which is a Pepsi ad.

In the holiday spot, Lohan tiptoes down the stairs in pajamas, sits on a couch, and sees that Santa Claus has left a drink for her. She takes a sip, realizes it’s that oddly enticing combination of Pepsi and milk, and says, “That is one dirty soda, Santa.”

It’s cute! It’s nice. And as a plus, it’s au courant. 

The Pepsi-and-milk thing is a trend made popular on TikTok this year. Dubbed “dirty soda,” the drink is a bit like a rebranded egg cream, according to some trusted sources. For those who did not frequent the soda counter during the Great Depression, an egg cream is like a watered-down milkshake with soda water, milk, and chocolate syrup. It’s not bad! The “dirty soda” combo took off on TikTok thanks to a collaboration between Olivia Rodrigo and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, if I’m understanding everything correctly. (I’m certainly not.)

Lohan declares it “Pilk” in a separate ad short, though “Pilk” is the name the drink has been given organically online, per a two-year-old subreddit dedicated entirely to the stuff.

Anyway, it’s great Lohan is doing an excellent line read for a Pepsi commercial. It’s great that she’s getting those Big Soda bucks and extending the long tail of her Santa outfit from the seminal teen movie Mean Girls. In the end, the comeback is what we really want from Lohan.