Heineken Made a Placeholder Gift for Ones That Don't Arrive on Time

The supply chain problems have lots of people anxious about whether gifts they’ve ordered—or plan to order—will arrive by Christmas. But never fear, you can always give the recipient an IOU, in the form of a festively packaged six-pack of Heineken.

From Dec. 10-12 and again from Dec. 17-19, Heineken will be giving out “Heineken IOUs,” a free placeholder gift to bring to holiday parties for gifts that haven’t arrived on time. The promotion is valid in select markets for gifters 21+ who upload a screenshot of a delayed shipping notice to HeinekenIOU.com.

Heineken IOU is actually just the fancy gift box itself, but it comes with a gift card so you can pick up the six Heineken bottles and add them to the package.

“We’ve all been watching the warning signs about how the supply chain could affect the holiday gifting season, so we’ve been bracing ourselves for this moment,” says Josh Egan, Heineken USA brand director. “This felt like one way we could make the holidays a little less stressful for consumers by making sure they don’t have to show up to a holiday gift exchange empty handed.”

The campaign is from creative agency Fast Horse, with photography by Josh Grubbs and Farhad Samari. SGK designed the boxes themselves.

“With our iconic green bottles and red star, Heineken has always been a popular beverage choice around the holidays,” says Egan. “With this promotion we’re aiming to build on that brand affinity and help our consumers make the most of a bad situation—and hopefully even spread some cheer this holiday season. Over beers, of course.”