Japanese probiotic drink Yakult is enjoying an increase in sales after making a brief appearance in the Netflix rom-com “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.”
Created by microbiologist Minoru Shirota in the 1930s, Yakult is a fermented mixture of skimmed milk and a special strain of the bacterium Lactobacillus casei, which Shirota identified and named after himself.
Yakult — which comes in a distinctive red foil cap — appears in a car scene in “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” as a “Korean yogurt smoothie.”
Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo), one of Lara Jean’s (Lana Condor) love interests, consumes the drink and comments, “Oh wow, that is really good.”
He then asks Lara’s sister, Kitty (Anna Cathcart), “What do I have to do to get you to bring me one of these tomorrow?”
As it turned out, the scene would give Yakult a popularity boost.
On top of spikes in “mention frequency,” the drink’s stocks rose by 2.6% since the film started streaming, Bloomberg reported.
There is also an increase in Yakult-inspired merchandise ranging from stickers to artwork, the Guardian noted.
Yakult can use the popularity boost after its shares took a dip in February when Danone, the world’s biggest yogurt maker, announced plans to sell about $1.8 billion of the Japanese company’s stock.
Needless to say, fans are now digging the coolest drink on the market.
Still, some pointed out that they’ve been drinking Yakult way before Kavinsky could.
Have you tried Yakult yet?
Featured Images via Netflix
