Supply shortages and shipping delays have disrupted the availability of Diet Coke in India, triggering a social media frenzy and inspiring themed events centered on the popular beverage.

Diet Coke, commonly consumed in India as a mixer for alcoholic drinks such as rum and favored by health-conscious consumers, has become harder to find due to a shortage of aluminium cans and delays in shipping routes.

Unlike in many other countries, Diet Coke in India is sold exclusively in cans, making it more vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, including the ongoing bottleneck of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz linked to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

While the drink remains available online, quantities are limited.

The shortage has prompted humorous memes on social media, with users joking about hoarding cans of the beverage.

Some businesses have also capitalized on the craze by organizing art workshops and events where customers decorate Diet Coke cans with rhinestones or use them to create T-shirt prints.

“With the aluminium can shortage, I think a lot of people are trying to sort of keep the Diet Coke as an aesthetic, as a keepsake, as something to just create memorabilia around it,” Ridhi Jain, founder of Art Cafe and live art studio at the Broadway store, told Reuters on Saturday.

Bars and restaurants have also embraced the trend by hosting “Diet Coke parties,” with some venues charging entrance fees ranging from $10 to $16 that include access to the beverage.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi consider India a major growth market, although most of their other products in the country are sold in plastic and glass bottles, as well as cans.