Dropfetti

Guides

Getting brands to celebrate a birthday

Most birthday freebie advice is about loyalty schemes: sign up, get a coupon. This is a different thing: telling a brand that has genuinely been part of someone's life that a milestone birthday is coming. Milestone years land far better than ordinary ones.

Which brands actually respond

Restaurant and snack brands respond quickly and often. Nostalgia brands, the ones tied to someone's childhood, respond best of all when the birthday is a round number and the story goes back decades.

What makes a letter worth answering

Specificity is the whole thing. A PR inbox receives a lot of “I love your brand, can I have something”. It receives almost nothing like this:

Want us to write yours for your birthday?

Tell us the memory in two minutes. Seeing the letter is free; delivery to a verified contact at the brand is $2.99, and only if you choose to send it.

Write my letter

Do brands really send free stuff for a birthday?

Some do, and it is never guaranteed. What arrives is usually smaller and more personal than people expect: a note, a voucher, a sample box rather than a sponsorship. Restaurant and snack brands respond quickly and often. Nostalgia brands, the ones tied to someone's childhood, respond best of all when the birthday is a round number and the story goes back decades.

When should I contact brands about a birthday?

Three to five weeks. Birthdays are the one milestone where a slightly late letter still works, because the brand can respond after the date and it still means something.

What should the message actually say?

Lead with the specific memory: where you were, what year, who you were with. Name the birthday and its date. Then stop. Do not ask for anything. The letters that get answered are the ones that clearly were not written to get something, and PR teams can tell the difference instantly.

Is it rude to ask a brand for something?

Asking outright usually is, and it is also the least effective approach. Telling a brand what it has meant to you is the kind of message people forward around an office. Anything that comes back comes back because someone wanted to send it.

We can write it and send it for you

Tell us the memory in your own words. We write it into a letter the brand's team can read in a minute, deliver it to a verified contact, and send any reply straight back to you.

Write my letter, from $2.99

Or browse the brands we can reach.