34) Bros Icing Bros

A new drinking game has been spreading on college campuses, offices and the Internet. Aptly named, "Bros Icing Bros" the booze folly centers around presenting your bro with a Smirnoff Ice in a strategic way, after which he must take a knee and chug. The Bros Icing Bros website provides a gallery of bested bros and explains the rules:


Much like the tried and true Finger Hole Game, its seemingly simple structure allows just enough creativity to fuel full on warfare. The bros over at College Humor offered these highlights of their game:

- Jake quit the game after being iced three times in the same day
- Yesterday Murph had to chug two Ices within 5 minutes for a combo ice block and ice
- Today I (Kevin) switched Owen’s Ice out to Ice him, only to be Ice blocked by another ice he had taped to his ankle

Some have speculated that the whole thing is an elaborate marketing ploy by Smirnoff Ice. How genius would that be? Capitalizing on the cultural truth that men view Smirnoff Ice as the most emasculating drink, and using that negative opinion to their advantage. While it may not improve or change anyone's opinion of the brand, think of all the bros now out buying Smirnoff Ice to play the game. By simply setting up a rudimentary blog on Wordpress, establishing some basic rules, and seeding some example pictures, Smirnoff Ice has been re-inserted into Internet memedom, public conversation, and pop culture.

That being said, there has been no evidence that Smirnoff Ice is behind the site. As much as I'd like to imagine some marketing brilliance behind the scenes, it's looking like an organically created game. Still, I'd love to see the sales stats for Smirnoff Ice this month. A healthy spike just may be the work of the bros.

*UPDATE - from agencyspy - "Turns out, it's a little piece of reverse-marketing from Wieden + Kennedy." Bravo!