How Welch’s turns five social episodes into an Instacart funnel

For the holiday season, Welch’s is relying on a five-part social media series 2026 instead of a single classic spot. “Before the Toast” starts on 17 November and tells a family story around the holidays across Instagram and TikTok. The real marketing twist sits behind the clips: an Instacart promotion takes selected viewers from the screen to the bottle.

Five episodes, familiar faces and a clear release plan

For the series, the US beverage brand has gathered Christy Carlson Romano, Sabrina Bryan, Heather Morris and Brendan Rooney, among others. The cast draws on the pop culture of the 2000s, while the plot centres on the festive chaos before the group finally raises a glass.

The trailer appeared on 9 November. The five episodes follow on 17 and 24 November, and on 1, 3 and 8 December. That gives the campaign recurring talking points over several weeks, rather than just a short-lived reach spike on release day.

From cliffhanger to sampling offer

Welch’s extends the story with an Instacart promotion for a free full-size bottle of Sparkling Juice: promotion windows are planned for November and mid-December, each subject to availability. Instagram giveaways and accompanying ads on Disney+ and Hulu add to the reach. The brand is also promoting its reduced-sugar Sparkling variant at Walmart.

Three tasks are kept separate here: the series creates attention, social media giveaways keep the community talking, and the delivery service lowers the barrier to a first product trial. The brand has not yet published a quantified conversion or sales effect.

Why this storytelling approach is interesting for marketing teams

The series format is increasingly becoming a practical alternative to the isolated influencer post. Anthropologie is also working with a multi-part creator comedy. Fetch even links a holiday microseries to rewarded views and purchases.

For campaign planners, the real question is therefore no longer just episode length. What matters is what happens after viewing: do users follow the account, save the series, redeem an offer or buy a product? At Welch’s, this connection is deliberately part of the campaign architecture.

Our overview of creator series budgets also shows how much season production and usage rights contribute to costs.

Sources: Welch’s: official campaign announcement from 9 November 2026 · Welch’s Sparkling: product and campaign page · Marketing Dive: campaign report from 12 November