Players 2+ Playing time Alcohol used Smirnoff ice | Setup time none Skill(s) required None | |
Icing is a drinking game in which certain individuals or groups of individuals are required to drink a bottle of Smirnoff Ice (original ice only). The game has been featured on CNN Money/Fortune and TNA Impact!, Tosh.0, and ridiculed by Cracked.com. Participants are encouraged to come up with elaborate ways to present the Smirnoff Ice to their targets by hiding bottles in inconspicuous locations, or in situations where drinking it would be dangerous or embarrassing (e.g. before they attend a meeting). Failure to drink, no matter the circumstance, results in the victim owing one Smirnoff Ice to each of the other players. The game objective is to make someone consume an entire Smirnoff ice.
Contents
Gameplay
The game objective is to make someone consume an entire Smirnoff ice.
A player hides a bottle for another person to come across. When the iced person touches or discovers it, he/she must drop to one knee and chug the entire Ice. Other players who see the icer hide the Ice are exempt from drinking the ice. If the first person to come across the ice (the 'iced') fails to drink the whole bottle, the iced person cannot ice someone else for at least 24 hours.
An Ice block occurs when the icee can find another Ice within one step and arm's reach. If this happens, the icer must drop and chug both ices, the original presented Ice and the new blocking Ice.
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. The game has featured some notable victims, including wrestler Ric Flair, rapper Coolio, actor Dustin Diamond (who was later accused of trying to "ice" brothers at a Wisconsin bar not long before a brawl and stabbing that led to Diamond being sentenced to four months in prison), model and singer Sky Ferreira, Ben Bruce and Danny Worsnop of the band Asking Alexandria, and professional gamer Fatal1ty. The goal of an online marketing campaign has been to make Ashton Kutcher an Icing victim.
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.