National Barbecue Month
Gather your friends and neighbors together and grill up some tasty, smoky, ever-popular BBQ to welcome the warm weather. Try making your own BBQ sauce!
Drive May sales of grills, charcoal, wood pellets, marinades, and BBQ accessories by positioning National Barbecue Month as the season-opener for outdoor entertaining.
- Grill upgrade guide: charcoal vs. wood pellets vs. gas—which fuel is right for your backyard?
- 5 homemade BBQ sauce recipes to master this May
- Host the perfect backyard BBQ: checklist for grills, sides, and entertaining essentials
- Vegetarian grilling ideas that impress meat-eaters
Notable campaigns3
- Coca-Cola (Germany/UK) (2022–2025): 2022-2025: BBQ Summer Promotion with Weber Grill giveaways. Ran a cashback promotion (€3 back) and sweepstakes for Weber grill products tied to Coca-Cola purchases. Included QR codes on products linking to recipe ideas and integrated social media campaigns with recipe content.
- Kraft Heinz (2026): May 2026: 'The United Tastes of America' — largest portfolio campaign in company history celebrating 250 years of American cookouts. Launched never-before-seen BBQ-focused products, unified 100+ year-old brands, emphasized regional BBQ traditions and brought people together around summer gatherings.
- Barbeque Nation (India) (2025–2026): Food Festival Tie-ins & Influencer Marketing: Partnered with food bloggers and micro-influencers for 'Punjabi Food Festival' and 'Kukkad Carnival' events. Reached 837,000+ viewers with regional influencer content, used mascot (Makkhan Singh) for storytelling, hosted table contests and surprise visits.
Campaign ideas7
- Host a 'Grill Master Showdown' tournament with local BBQ enthusiasts — partner with local restaurants, offer prizes/branded gear, stream on TikTok/Instagram for engagement
- Launch a 'BBQ & Brew' collaboration series with craft beverage partners — create themed menu pairings, co-branded social content, joint tasting events
- Create user-generated content contest: 'Tag Us in Your Grill' — encourage customers to share BBQ photos with your products, feature best entries on brand channels
- Develop interactive email campaign with BBQ recipe roundups, how-to grilling videos, behind-the-scenes content of your team grilling
- Sponsor/partner with local May food festivals and BBQ competitions — brand booths, sampling, promotional product giveaways (aprons, tools, coolers)
- Create an Instagram/TikTok cooking show mini-series with celebrity chefs or local pitmasters using your products — 60-90 second episodes, shareable tips
- Launch influencer collab with food/lifestyle creators — send BBQ packages, ask for content creation featuring your brand, negotiate affiliate links
Social angles6
- 'May 16 is National BBQ Day — tag us in your grill setup! Your backyard could be featured 🔥 #NationalBBQMonth #GrillMaster #BBQSeason
- 'We're fired up for National Barbecue Month! 🌭🔥 How are you celebrating? Drop your favorite BBQ memory below. #BBQMonth #SummerEats #BackyardBBQ
- 'Smoke signals for summer: National Barbecue Month means it's TIME to dust off that grill. Shop [product line] and level up your cookout 🍖 #BarbecueMonth #ShopNow
- 'From Carolina pulled pork to Texas brisket — what's your BBQ style? Join us in celebrating all things grilling this May 🔥 #NationalBBQMonth #RegionalFlavors #BBQCulture
- 'Pro tip: May is the BEST time to test new grill recipes! Follow for daily grilling hacks throughout Barbecue Month 🧑🍳 #BarbecueMonth #GrillingTips #FoodieLife
- 'Gather around — National Barbecue Month is here and we're bringing the heat. Tag your grill squad in the replies! 👇 #BBQMonth #CookoutSeason #FamilyTime
Ad copy starters5
“This May, Fire Up More Than Just Your Grill — Discover [Brand]'s Full BBQ Lineup”
“National Barbecue Month Starts NOW — Get Your Grill Ready With [Brand] Essentials”
“May is for Grillmasters: Shop Smarter, Cook Better, Entertain Bigger”
“'Low and Slow' Never Tasted So Good — National Barbecue Month Deals Inside”
“From Backyard BBQ to Pitmaster Status: Your May Starts Here”
Tips4
- Strike a balance between product promo and entertaining/educational content — recipes, grilling hacks, and entertaining tips perform better than pure sales pitches on social. Make May about community, not just selling.
- Partner strategically: co-brand with beverage companies, grill manufacturers, and local venues. Cross-promotion multiplies reach and feels more authentic than solo campaigns.
- Don't sleep on nostalgia and tradition — National Barbecue Month taps into family memories and outdoor gatherings. Stories about 'bringing people together' resonate harder than feature-focused messaging.
- Localize when possible. BBQ culture is deeply regional (Texas vs. Carolina vs. Kansas City). Tailor messaging and product focus to regional tastes if you have a national footprint.
Humans have been cooking meat over an open flame for centuries, but exactly where the idea of cooking meat over a grill came from isn’t quite clear. Supposedly, when Columbus discovered the Americas, he found that many of the natives were roasting meat over a wooden grill. This would give the meat a delicious smoky flavor as it cooked, which may have been where the idea for the tradition began.
Today, it’s such a popular method of preparing meat that there’s a whole range of barbecue cookers it is possible to get a hold of – and plenty of different styles as well. Small ones can often be seen in homeowners’ backyards, where they are perfect for cooking for small gatherings of family or friends. Barbeque grills on a larger scale or in commercial settings can be so big that they can cook an entire hog!
If there is one place where having a barbecue is most popular, it is probably in the United States. It’s not uncommon there to find that having barbecue is not just kept to one season. (This is the opposite as the UK, where the barbecue grills tend to only come out during the summer months.) Also, it’s important not to forget that throwing food on the “barbie” is certainly a pastime “down under” in Australia!
All year-round, in many parts of the US, as well as other parts of the world, it’s possible to get access to deliciously smoked and barbecued meat. And if there’s a public celebration, it’s most likely that there are probably going to be barbecue grills raging in order to feed the masses.
Because of the fact that it’s situated at the beginning of the summer months (at least in the northern hemisphere), the month of May makes a lot of sense as the time to celebrate all things related to the barbecue! Spring is in full swing by then, the weather is warming and it’s the perfect time to get the grill cleaned up and ready to go, especially if it has been in storage over the winter months.
Host a Backyard Barbecue
It’s time to dust off the old barbecue, get those friends and family around, and get ready to enjoy a great big feast. It doesn’t matter if it’s an all out event with cool decorations and live music, or just a simple gathering of friends with paper plates and a cooler full of drinks, the main attraction is the grilling! So grab those tongs, marinate some meat, fire up the grill and get to cooking. Check on the internet to find some great barbecue recipes, and make sure there’s something for vegetarians to sink their teeth into as well! Throwing a pile of corn on the cob, zucchini, squash, veggie kebabs, eggplant or even brussel sprouts on the grill is super tasty and also healthy.
Try Some New Barbecue Ideas
In honor of National Barbecue Month, this might be just the time to change up the kind of fuel that is used. Move from just the standard charcoal briquettes and lighter fluid to something more interesting. For a more natural fuel option, consider using Hardwood Lump Charcoal, which usually contains no fillers or chemicals. Wood pellets are an option that provide the food with interesting flavors, depending on the type of wood used. Wood pellets made from trees such as cherry, apple, hickory, mesquite and even cedar will give the food a delicious taste. Plus, many people find a special wood pellet grill to be an option that is less messy than the black soot of charcoal.
Try Making Homemade BBQ Sauce
Of course, making sure there’s some homemade BBQ sauce to hand to keep things authentic is a vital part of any barbecue experience! The styles and flavors of barbecue sauce truly do run the gamut, from sweet and honey-flavored to spicy jalapeno, and pretty much everything in between! Here’s one basic barbecue sauce that almost anyone can manage works well in the kitchen and can be adjusted based on individual preferences. Those who like it less sweet can use a bit less brown sugar. And for a spicy kick, feel free to add some jalapeno juice or
Simple Barbecue Sauce Recipe
1 ½ c. catsup4 T. brown sugar 2 T. white wine vinegar1 T. Worcestershire sauce5 t. paprika 1 t. cayenne pepper (more or less, based on preference) Toss all of the ingredients in a bowl, stir, and pile generously on top of all kinds of delicious foods for the perfect celebration of National Barbecue Month!