Have you been iced? No, this has nothing to do with the mafia. It actually has to do with that other evil scourge that has infiltrated the underside of American culture: Smirnoff Ice.
Fortune has posted an article about the website BrosIcingBros.com. A site dedicated to posting pictures of unfortunate bro victims who have been “iced.” What is Icing, you’re now asking? Well, lets let Fortune explain:
“‘Icing’ — or ‘getting iced’ — is a drinking game that’s rapidly gaining popularity amongst office workers, tech and media types, and college students. The rules are simple: If a person sees a Smirnoff Ice, he or she must get down on one knee and chug it, unless they happen to be carrying their own Smirnoff, in which case they can “ice block,” or refract the punishment back onto the attacker. In order to dupe people into stumbling across the beverage, participants have devised creative ways of presenting them with Ices, like strapping the bottles to the backs of dogs or burying them in vats of protein powder.”
Wow. According to Fortune, the popularity of the website has helped the game spread from the College of Charleston, where it originated, to colleges and offices around the country. They even report an “ice attack” occurring at the offices of Goldman Sachs. Well, that explains a lot.
The article is pretty incredible. Not only does it include a helpful definition of what a “bro” is for Fortune readers, it also includes the greatest quote ever from a spokeswoman for Diageo, the alcohol company behind Smirnoff.
“The icing phenomenon is consumer generated,” says Zsoka McDonald, a Diageo spokeswoman. She adds: “Some people think it’s fun. Diageo never wants underage icing.”
Man, if I had a car, you know I’d be getting a bumper sticker with “Diageo never wants underage icing” on it. Anyway, it’s a good thing that no one at the Geekosystem office is under 21 because I am definitely making a detour to the liquor store during my lunch break…
Here’s a video demonstration:
(Photo via Bros Icing Bros)
UPDATE: This post originally cited CNN as having written the BIB article. However, while it was hosted on CNN’s website, the article belongs to the good folks at Fortune. We’ve made the changes and apologize to writer Mina Kimes and everyone at Fortune who was behind the truly entertaining piece.
Published: May 26, 2010 03:00 pm