Smirnoff Ice is entering the branded merchandise space for the first time this holiday season, pairing a five-item limited-edition product collection with a new campaign starring internet personality Brittany Broski — a move that signals the flavored malt beverage category's growing investment in lifestyle marketing as a tool for year-end retail lift.
The hero item is a ukulele-shaped gift box ($9.99) that ships with a Smirnoff Ice bottle included — a first for the brand. The packaging is designed to pass as a musical instrument under the tree, with the beverage revealed only upon opening. The full Smirnoff Ice Holiday Collection, available at Shop.Smirnoff.com while supplies last, also includes a holiday sweater ($39.99), bottle ornaments ($9.99), a bottle-shaped dog toy ($14.99), and plush bottle slippers ($19.99).
The Campaign Strategy
The creative runs across a series of holiday spots set in the fictional town of "Smirnoff Falls," where Broski encounters multiple versions of herself competing for merchandise and beverages. The absurdist, self-referential format is well-suited to the social-first distribution strategy the brand is emphasizing through its @SmirnoffUSA Instagram channel. "The best parties always have that one person who makes things a little more interesting, and we think what you bring should do the same," said Fergus McCarthy, Director of Smirnoff Ice, framing the campaign around the brand's long-running "Original" positioning.
For operators and on-premise accounts, the campaign is a useful indicator of where Diageo is directing consumer attention for the FMB segment heading into the holiday entertaining window. Smirnoff Ice, which launched in 1999 and helped define the flavored malt beverage category, remains one of the segment's flagship brands. Seasonal campaigns of this scale tend to correlate with increased consumer pull-through at retail and bar accounts, particularly for ready-to-drink formats that perform well at gatherings and holiday parties.
Sweepstakes and Consumer Activation
Beyond the merch drop, the brand is running a sweepstakes (open to consumers 21+) offering a limited-edition Smirnoff Ice kayak delivered in an oversized branded gift box. The promotion adds a shareable, social-amplification layer that complements the retail push.
For beverage buyers and hospitality professionals tracking the flavored malt beverage and ready-to-drink category, the Smirnoff Ice holiday activation reflects a broader trend: alcohol brands increasingly treating merchandise and content as marketing channels in their own right, rather than purely point-of-sale support. The strategy mirrors approaches seen across the restaurant and bar industry's approach to seasonal beverage programming, where brands that build cultural relevance off-premise tend to see stronger on-premise request rates during high-traffic holiday periods.
All promotions are directed at consumers aged 21 and older. Diageo, Smirnoff's parent company, encourages responsible drinking through its global resource at www.diageo.com.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
