On your first idea, it would have to be a smaller or niche beverage company, because big ones don't see further than Google Ads or Facebook Ads online. Or someone has to be very persuasive. I also saw at SteemFest a brewery game that aims to have small breweries as sponsors, to participate in the game.
On the SMTs as gift cards idea, this can be a way to offer a discount for any merchant, but also on vacation packages. I might expand on that because it seems a very interesting idea.