Not Going to Thanksgiving? Jose Cuervo Wants to Help (by Sending a Life-Size Printed Cutout of You to Dinner Instead)

With coronavirus cases surging to record levels across most of the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health officials are advising extreme caution for the Thanksgiving holiday. That includes maybe just sitting this year out rather than traveling or gathering indoors.

The whole thing is a bummer, sure. But Jose Cuervo has a solution: If you can't physically go to Thanksgiving dinner at Meemaw's house this year, why not do the next best thing and send a life-size printed cardboard cutout of yourself instead?

That, my friends, is exactly what the tequila brand plans to do. Through its new "Cuervo Doppeldrinker" promotion, reposado fans can complete a three-step entry process for a chance to have their cardboard doppelganger created and shipped to the address of their choice in time for Thanksgiving dinner.

Step one: Submit a high-resolution photo of yourself "holding your favorite drink" (which we assume means Jose Cuervo). Step two: Enter the address to which you want your cutout shipped. Step three: Wait and see if you're selected. That's it.

Check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxjC6P_OUwI

"Make holiday memories even if you can't make it home," the contest page reads. "Send your loved ones a Cuervo cocktail-carrying cutout of yourself and celebrate the season together. Your lifelike Cuervo Doppeldrinker will make it feel like you’re with family and friends this season, even if you’re not!"

Look, nothing beats Thanksgiving dinner. The golden-brown turkey, the mountain of mashed potatoes, the weird green stuff in the casserole dish that you can't identify but you eat three servings of anyway. That's before you even factor in the post-meal nap or the leftovers. There's no away around it: Missing all that stinks.

But think of the positives! You get to skip the travel and enjoy a relaxing dinner at home, while your cardboard cutout is forced to watch the Lions game and listen to Uncle Frank talk about the latest bombshell news he read on Facebook. That's not a bad deal.

We've seen some brands having fun and getting creative with Thanksgiving promotions. Budweiser, for example, had that ingenious locking leftovers box to keep your stuffing safe from scavengers. But Jose Cuervo's cutouts are notable in their use of custom printing, similar to what we saw from Major League Baseball and other pro sports leagues, but for promotional purposes.

The Doppeldrinker video above already has close to 700,000 views on YouTube, so it's safe to say this promotion is already a success. Everything else is just (wait for it) ...

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