Icing (game)

Gameplay

A player hides a bottle for another person to come across. When the iced person sees the bottle, they must chug the entire Ice. Other players who see the icer hide the Ice are exempt from drinking the ice. If the first person to touch the ice (the 'iced') fails to drink the whole bottle, the iced person cannot ice someone else.

An Ice block occurs when the iced is already carrying a bottle/can of Ice on their person, or is in reach of one without taking a step. If this happens, the icer (challenger) must drop and chug both Ices, the original presented Ice and the new blocking Ice.

Whereas in the United States and Canada "icing" is usually done with smaller 11.2 fl. oz (331 mL) bottles, icing in Europe, particularly among students, is more commonly done with full-size 0.7 liter bottles. These bottles contain more than 2 times the volume and, at 4% ABV, are nearly as strong as their small counterparts (4.5% ABV). This in turn presents a higher danger of drinking to excess.

Popularity

Icing, which was described by The New York Times in June 2010 as "the nation's biggest viral drinking game", grew in popularity shortly after the appearance of the website BrosIcingBros.com in May 2010.

There has been some doubt over whether this is an organic phenomenon, or a marketing stunt by Smirnoff, which the company has denied. Advertising executive Dick Martin said "Beyond the implicit slur on the beverage's taste, I doubt any alcoholic beverage company would want to be associated with a drinking game that stretches the boundaries of good taste and common sense like this one does". The viral spread of the game has seen a boost in sales for the company. Smirnoff insists that the game is "consumer-generated" and has reminded the public to drink responsibly, and Diageo, the product's maker, stated "that 'icing' does not comply with our marketing code, and was not created or promoted by Diageo, Smirnoff Ice, or anyone associated with Diageo."

References

References

1. "Bros Icing Bros - May. 26, 2010".
2. (June 11, 2010). "Bros Icing Bros: Understanding This Ridiculous Phenomenon".
3. Flegenheimer, Matt. (August 1, 2020). "Tammy Duckworth Is Nothing and Everything Like Joe Biden". The New York Times.
4. "The Official Icing & Bro Icing Drinking Game Rules".
5. (June 9, 2010). "Bros Icing Bros: The New Binge Drinking Game That Smirnoff Has Nothing to Say About".
6. Ferdman, Roberto A.. (2021-11-25). "A map of where in the world people still drink Smirnoff Ice, the famously bad malt beverage". Washington Post.
7. Goodman, J. David. (June 8, 2010). "Popular New Drinking Game Raises Question, Who's 'Icing' Whom?". [[The New York Times]].
8. Harvey, Matt. (June 11, 2010). "Iced, iced baby". [[New York Post]].
9. Quittner, Ella. (June 17, 2010). "Bro Culture: Icing on the Social-Marketing Cake?". [[Time (magazine).