NEW YORK – Milwaukee neighbors Harley-Davidson and Miller High Life are teaming up to celebrate their 110th anniversaries together this year, a move that pairs autos and brews in the same yet and often rare marketing partnership.

Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports that the two companies have signed a multiyear collaboration that will produce Harley-branded beer cans and High Life-styled motorcycles in time for summer. Although the two companies have teamed up for marketing events over the past 20 years, this marks the first long-term deal between the two brands.

To kick off the festivities, MillerCoors will bring commemorative Harley-Davidson designs to 16-oz. High Life cans and packaging for 12-oz. bottles. Also, 150 Harleys complete with High Life graphics will be given away.

To steer potential pitfalls that a drinking-and-driving brand alliance between the two companies could present, Ashley Selman, marketing director for heritage and economy brands at MillerCoors, said that the opportunities created by the pact to discuss safety. Miller High Life will be encouraging safe riding online and via social media while also asking riders at motorcycle events to take a safe-riding pledge. 

“I think less of it as a beer company and a motorcycle company and more of it as the Miller High Life brand and the Harley-Davidson brand,” Selman told the news source, adding, “These are two brands that are all about heritage, all about craftsmanship, all about quality. They are two iconic American brands.”