{{Short description|Drinking game and Internet meme}} {{use mdy dates |date=August 2020}} {{Infobox game | name = Icing | subtitle = Drinking Game | image = | caption = | players = 2+ | playing_time = Ongoing | blank_label = Alcohol used | blank_data = [[Smirnoff ice]] | skills = Chugging }}
'''Icing''' is a [[drinking game]] and [[Internet meme]] that gained prominence in 2010 in which one person conceals a bottle of [[Smirnoff Ice]] in a place in which another person will find it. Once found, the finder is immediately required to kneel and drink.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2010/05/26/news/companies/bros_icing_bros.fortune/index.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527214253/http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/26/news/companies/bros_icing_bros.fortune/index.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 27, 2010|title=Bros Icing Bros - May. 26, 2010|website=archive.fortune.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cracked.com/blog/icing-more-like-bullshit|title=Bros Icing Bros: Understanding This Ridiculous Phenomenon|date=June 11, 2010|website=Cracked.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/01/us/politics/tammy-duckworth-biden-vp.html |title=Tammy Duckworth Is Nothing and Everything Like Joe Biden |date=August 1, 2020 |access-date=11 August 2020 |newspaper=The New York Times |first=Matt |last=Flegenheimer }}</ref> Participants are encouraged to come up with elaborate ways to present the Smirnoff Ice to their targets by hiding bottles or cans in inconspicuous locations, or in situations where drinking it would be dangerous or embarrassing (e.g. before they attend a meeting).
==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 it. The first person who touches the Ice (the 'iced') but fails to drink the whole bottle cannot ice someone else.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.icingrules.com/ |title=The Official Icing & Bro Icing Drinking Game Rules |access-date=2012-12-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110053712/http://www.icingrules.com/ |archive-date=2012-11-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bros-icing-bros-the-new-binge-drinking-game-that-smirnoff-has-nothing-to-say-about/|title=Bros Icing Bros: The New Binge Drinking Game That Smirnoff Has Nothing to Say About|website=www.cbsnews.com|date=June 9, 2010 }}</ref>
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]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ferdman |first=Roberto A. |date=2021-11-25 |title=A map of where in the world people still drink Smirnoff Ice, the famously bad malt beverage |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/10/22/where-in-the-world-people-still-drink-smirnoff-ice-the-famously-bad-malt-beverage/ |access-date=2024-08-18 |work=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>
==Popularity== Icing, which was described by ''The New York Times'' in June 2010 as "the nation's biggest viral drinking game",<ref name=NYT>{{cite news |last=Goodman |first=J. David |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/business/media/09adco.html |title=Popular New Drinking Game Raises Question, Who's 'Icing' Whom? |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 8, 2010 |access-date=June 14, 2010 }}</ref> grew in popularity shortly after the appearance of the website BrosIcingBros.com in May 2010.<ref>{{cite news |author-link=Matt T. Harvey |last=Harvey |first=Matt |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/iced_iced_baby_nA4JKpl5hU9Y8KshAwqbFK |title=Iced, iced baby |newspaper=[[New York Post]] |date=June 11, 2010 |access-date=June 14, 2010 }}</ref>
There has been some doubt<ref name=NYT/><ref name=Time>{{cite news|last=Quittner |first=Ella |url= http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1997489,00.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100619044354/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1997489,00.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= June 19, 2010|title= Bro Culture: Icing on the Social-Marketing Cake?|publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date= June 17, 2010|access-date= January 17, 2012}}</ref> over whether this is an organic phenomenon,<ref name=NYT/><ref name=Time/> or a marketing stunt by Smirnoff, which the company has denied.<ref name=NYT/> 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".<ref name=NYT/> The viral spread of the game has seen a boost in sales for the company.<ref name=NYT/><ref name=Time/> Smirnoff insists that the game is "consumer-generated" and has reminded the public to drink responsibly,<ref name=NYT/> 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."
==See also== {{Portal|Drink}} * [[List of drinking games]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Drinking games}}
[[Category:Drinking games]] [[Category:Viral marketing]] [[Category:2010s fads and trends]]