Lipa Pitches Pop

Lipa Schmeltzer, singer and novelty vest connoisseur, is having a moment right now. The “Hasidic Lady Gaga,” as he’s come to be known, just bagged his first national advertisement with PepsiCo. Not in America, though—in Israel.

Sharing the news on Twitter, Schmeltzer posted his new ad for Pepsi Max, a commercial that he says is as good an ad for Orthodox Jews as it is for the drink. It features dancing, smiling Hasids, which shows the world that they can be “lively, funny, and interesting, but still within, you know, the boundaries.”

According to Schmeltzer, the ad was written specifically for him. In it, he walks into an Israeli restaurant, turns his nose up at schnitzel, schwarma, and a meat dish: it’s the Pepsi Max in the cooler that gets everyone singing and dancing to Yiddish-infused bencthing.

Shot in Israel in the course of one day, Schmeltzer was in the country for less than 24 hours, then rushed to get back for classes at Columbia the next day. As for the courses he missed? He said his professors “didn’t believe it” at first, but when he gave them the details, he had the best permission slip you could ask for.

And of course, said Lipa, “Drink Pepsi, but drink with a limit.”

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Related: A Day in the Life of Lipa Schmeltzer, Ex-Ultra-Orthodox Celebrity