A dad who spent 37 years trying to track down a tin tacker from when his wife was a beer model in the 80s was given a hilarious surprise when his family managed to buy one for him.
Bryan and Nadia Corlett, from Newport Beach, California, started dating in their early 20s, at which time Nadia was working as an actress and a model.
She worked on a campaign for Miller Lite in 1986, and the couple later discovered the tin tacker sign hanging in their local bar.
Bryan asked the owner if he could purchase it, but, according to the family, the owner refused, and when he returned at a later date, the poster was gone – setting off a decades long search.
He always looked out in different bars with no luck, and then, with the widespread implementation of the Internet, his search turned digital – still to no avail.
But in 2025, with the story having become legend, Bryan’s family decided to take a fresh look themselves, searching for Miller beer ads and adding “yellow dress,” which Nadia remembered wearing.
Having found the very ad and purchased a sign, Nadia then readied the gift for Christmas and asked if Bryan could open her present first.
Two nights before the surprise, Bryan had actually brought up the subject of finding the sign again, not knowing it had been sitting under his tree since December 1.
When he took the sign from its box and saw his wife, a delighted Bryan beamed from ear to ear and held it aloft.
The fun family moment was captured on video by the couple’s daughter, Bryana. Talking exclusively to Happilynews.com, she said: “It was a very exciting moment and the anticipation of opening the gift was so fun to experience.
“The poster is a metal tin, and it was wrapped tightly so it took my dad quite a while to open it.
“It was such an exciting moment for me and my siblings to see my dad‘s excitement and how proud he was to have gained this very sentimental and meaningful possession.
“I think as the video shows my dad was so proud of my mom and truly and genuinely excited to finally get his hands on this special poster of my mom.
“My mom and dad have been married for 29 years so this was really a cool experience for all of us to witness.”
