The holidays are already full of moments that compete with Miller Time. During the 2021 holiday season, Miller Lite wanted to introduce a unique way to bring Miller Time back to consumers during the hectic holidays. The challenge: Help people escape the obligatory occasions that dominate the Holiday season to enjoy Miller Time instead.

Launching weeks before Christmas, Miller Lite introduced Beernaments— special edition drinkable Christmas ornaments that could be hung on Christmas trees for decoration. With a budget of $300,000, the campaign produced over 2,500 boxes with sets of six Beernaments, selling all 15,000 units in just 96 seconds.

While the holidays might be filled with many (boring) traditions, the Beernaments made them more enjoyable, turning Christmas time into Miller Time.

Miller Lite sought to target 25–45 year-old beer drinkers with a campaign that would help them bring Miller Time back into their holiday schedules and traditions.

That’s when Beernaments was born: a “drinkable” ornament fit for holiday merriment. Beernaments could be purchased on the brand’s exclusive microsite, beernaments.com, for $19.75 (the year Miller Lite was born) in a set of six. Miller Lite also partnered with actor and comedian, Jimmy O. Yang, to release a video that explained the holiday magic behind the drinkable décor.

All consumers had to do was crack them, drink them and hang them.

The campaign stemmed from the fact that the holidays, which are full of distractions, are the most hectic time of the year. Miller Lite wanted to break through the noise and stay top-of-mind among its target consumers of 25-34-year-old light beer drinkers.

The key message behind the PR strategy was that the Beernaments make the holiday season, which is full of many (boring) traditions, more fun, allowing you to enjoy Miller Lite with an exciting and limited-edition holiday twist.

Running from December 6 to Christmas Day, the campaign launch relied on earned, owned and paid media, including influencer coverage and a celebrity partnership with actor and comedian Jimmy O. Yang. The assets were distributed across a series of digital platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and hundreds of media outlets.

The effort was picked up by over 500 media outlets, including online and broadcast, and caught the attention of influencers across the country, who shared hundreds of social posts and amplified the effort to their networks.

The Beernaments helped Miller Lite stay top-of-mind and drove a spike in sales during the holiday season. The ornament quickly went viral, selling 15,000 units in just 96 seconds.

Beernaments.com also averaged 5,000 consumers during daily release times, nearly 10% of which were first-time shoppers at the Miller Lite online store. Once they sold out on the Beernaments microsite, some immediately hit the resale market, with some being sold for nearly $290, compared to their original retail price of $19.75.

The effort resulted in over 550 earned media placements and achieved 90% positive/neutral social sentiment.

In the end, the campaign drove 1 billion impressions and resulted in +3.4 volume growth in December, the strongest growth in five years. Talk about a fun holiday season.