The Campaign
Jim Beam, the world's best-selling bourbon and a Suntory Global Spirits brand, launched "Hit The Beam" on September 9, a sweepstakes-anchored marketing campaign timed to the NFL regular season that converts field-goal ricochets — colloquially known as "doinks" — into weekly prize moments for consumers 21 and older.
The campaign represents one of the more distinctive sports-marketing executions in the spirits category this year: rather than celebrating athletic success, Jim Beam is structuring its consumer engagement around an on-field failure, turning a historically groan-inducing play into a brand touchpoint. The creative features actor and comedian Ben Marshall coaching former NFL kicker Kai Forbath to intentionally aim for the goalpost — inverting nine years of professional muscle memory.
Prize Structure and Distribution
The mechanics are straightforward. Fans register at Hitthebeam.com beginning September 9. Each week that at least one field-goal attempt strikes the upright, up to five 85-inch televisions are awarded at random from the eligible entry pool. Non-winning entries roll over to subsequent weekly drawings, sustaining engagement across the full regular season. No prize values were disclosed in the release, but five large-format televisions per week represents a meaningful media-equivalent spend over a roughly 18-week season.
Media distribution spans connected TV, digital, Meta, TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube — a platform mix that signals a deliberate effort to reach younger legal-drinking-age consumers who increasingly consume NFL content outside traditional broadcast windows. "At Jim Beam, we've always believed the best moments are the ones shared with others," said Regan Clarke, Vice President of American Whiskey at Suntory Global Spirits. "When the ball finds the beam, it doesn't matter which jersey you're wearing — we can all raise a Jim Beam and Lemonade together."
NFL Partnerships and Retail Tie-Ins
The campaign builds on Jim Beam's existing NFL team partnerships. As an official partner of the Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, and Kansas City Chiefs, the brand is releasing limited-edition bottles celebrating each franchise, available at select local retailers — a trade activation designed to drive incremental shelf velocity during the high-traffic fall spirits season. The football push sits alongside Jim Beam's broader sports portfolio, which includes NASCAR sponsorships and an exclusive spirits sponsorship of the Cadillac Formula 1 Team.
For the spirits category broadly, fall NFL activations have become a contested media battleground. Premium bourbon and whiskey labels have accelerated sports-marketing spend as they compete for share of moment during occasions that index highly for ready-to-drink and on-premise consumption. Jim Beam's pivot to a fan-participation sweepstakes — rather than a straight celebrity endorsement — reflects a wider industry shift toward engagement mechanics that generate first-party data and measurable entry counts alongside traditional brand impressions. The tactic also aligns with growing regulatory scrutiny of spirits advertising, as interactive campaigns tied to legal-age verification at point of entry provide a compliance layer that passive broadcast spots do not.
For retailers and on-premise operators, the limited-edition franchise bottles and sustained weekly media weight through the regular season provide an extended promotional window well into December — historically the most important period for bourbon sales ahead of the holiday gifting season. Operators looking to capitalize on the campaign's consumer momentum should expect Jim Beam to be among the more heavily promoted bourbon labels on back-bars and end-caps through Q4.
More on spirits marketing strategy and beverage alcohol brand partnerships is available in our ongoing coverage. For the broader intersection of sports sponsorship and food and beverage consumer trends, see our recent analysis of how league deals are reshaping the category.
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.
